


25 Days of Japril

by mcmachine



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Gen, Rating May Change, more may appear!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 42,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16806697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmachine/pseuds/mcmachine
Summary: 25 various drabbles of Jackson and April throughout the holiday season. Will be updated daily (hopefully).





	1. Decorating

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Decorating

"No, no, you're not doing it right." April dropped the big ribbon that she had been working on, taking the stairs two at a time so she could reach Jackson at the top. "You need big loops. Like this."

Taking a hold of the garland herself, she pulled down for more dramatic loops of it compared to the modest ones that Jackson had been doing himself. She made sure that they hung low and took up a good two-thirds of the height of the railing. She fluffed it out just a little bit more with her fingers before stepping back to make sure that she liked it and giving a nod of her head. "There," she murmured. "That's what it should look like."

"You know that it looks pretty much the exact same, right?" Jackson commented with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Oh, hush, it doesn't. Make sure you get the lights wrapped around them once you're done."

Decorating for the Christmas season was something that April had loved for as long as she could remember and had pretty much consistently taken over the top year after year. Jackson wasn't sure how she managed to outdo herself every year, but she did. He appreciated putting up a tree and decorating it, getting a nice topper for it and sitting down with a glass of eggnog to admire it in the living room. That was something that even his apathetic family had managed to pull off pretty much every year for the holidays. But his memories of Christmas with his mother and grandfather were nothing like the extravagance that April enjoyed putting up in their place every year. Now that they had a proper house, and Harriet, she seemed to enjoy it more than she ever had before.

Finishing up the bows that she had been working on, she set them down at the foot of the steps so that could be added in with the garlands and lights. She busied herself with getting over the fireplace and getting more garland across the top of it, as well as large red candles and a wooden sign centered that ready Merry Christmas in a swirling text.

"Now, I didn't like how the stockings looked last year with three. I know that it should be okay because it's symmetrical but it doesn't feel full enough nor balanced," April remarked.

"Is this your way of telling me that you want to have another kid?" Jackson questioned, trying to untangle a strand of lights.

"No. Well, that sounds like a good idea, but that's not what I'm trying to say." She shook her head. She reached down to the box on her left and pulled out a red stocking that had a baby angel embroidered on it. "I got one for Samuel." She turned around, showing it to him.

Jackson stilled for a moment as he stared at the stocking that his wife was holding onto, blinking quickly to keep the tears that swelled at the bottom of his lids from becoming visible. The first Christmas without him that he had spent alone had been agonizing, not a single decoration in the house, not able to even put up a tree without having April around. Since then, it wasn't something that they had discussed at the two Christmas' that had passed. With his birthday two days before Valentine's Day, that was the holiday that it was usually brought up around now, not Christmas.

"What do you think?" April questioned, growing uncomfortable in his silence.

"It's perfect," he finally answered. "I love it."

A few long moments passed where the two of them just smiled at one another, both pausing to reflect on the beautiful baby boy that they had loved dearly and lost. It had been the thing to tear them apart, both individually and as a couple. They were lucky that their daughter had come along later to bring them back together, stronger than ever. For every part that Samuel had been a tragedy, Harriet had been a miracle and a reawakening.

With a somber smile still resting across the curve of her glossed lips, April hung up the stockings, two on each end of the fireplace. Jackson and Harriet's hung on the left side, while hers and Samuel's hung on the right.

The centerpiece of the living room was the Christmas tree, which had already been up in the living room for the past week. Given that Black Friday was something that neither April nor Jackson had any interest in participating in, not when most of it could be done online and neither one of them had a great need to deal with massive and rowdy crowds when they were well-off enough that they didn't need to save hundreds, their Friday after Thanksgiving had been spent at work for the first half of the day and putting up the Christmas tree with Harriet for the second half. Jackson had lifted up Harriet nice and high in the air so that she could put the angel on top of the Christmas tree all by herself – something which she had been extremely proud about.

"Do you want to start a fire?" April suggested. There was some wood already to the side of the fireplace, half decorative and a half for actual use. "I'm going to light the candles but it'll add to the ambiance."

"You and your ambiance," Jackson chuckled. "Yeah, I'll light it. Is the stair garland good now?"

"It's perfect." She smiled.

Gathering up all of the throw pillows from the sectional and the two extra chairs in the living room, April shoved them into the hall closet before getting out the new ones that she had bought just for the season. They matched the other decorations that had already been put up in the living room and entrance way so far – red and white, primarily, with some additions of silver and gold.

"Did you really buy new throw pillows just for Christmas?" Jackson questioned. "I don't know why I ask. Of course, you did," he shook his head although a smile still shone bright and revealed his straight white teeth.

"Oh, come on," she laughed. She set down most of them before picking up one with a penguin on it. "You can't tell me that this little guy isn't adorable. Don't you just want to cuddle up with him?"

"Of the options in this house to cuddle with, he's pretty low on my list." He answered.

April rolled her eyes. "He's adorable. I guess he'll just have to be my cuddle buddy then."

"I think these guys are a little better." Jackson picked up one of the decorative Christmas birds that were on the end table by more candles, something that they had decided on mostly unanimously at Target. "They don't take up quite so much space."

"Throw pillows are a necessary part of the living room. You know that." She smiled.

Putting down the pillow on the chair and straightening out the other ones that she had pulled out of the closet, she stepped back toward the fireplace so that she could look at the chairs and sectionals and make sure that she liked the way that everything was set up. She gave a little nod of her head in approval of the work that they had put in so far. Just because they had a day off didn't mean that they weren't going to be productive, especially during Harriet's nap time.

"I like it." April decided. "Oh! I almost forgot."

She moved over to grab the empty glass cylinders that had been filled with some decorative pine cones and a few shimmering of fake snow. It took her a few attempts to get them arranged exactly how she wanted them on the center of the coffee table.

"There we go," she straightened back up, placing her hands on her lips. "Now it all works."

Jackson looked around the living room at everything that had been thrown together in the past forty-five minutes and gave his own nod of approval. It was so much more than he would have ever thought to do on his own – putting together the pine cones on the table like that, all of the decorative garlands across the top of her fireplace, the lights and bows with the stair garland. But even he had to admit, everything had pulled together and looked pretty damn good now. Even if it did remind him more of a magazine spread than a house that someone would actually live in, let alone someone with a toddler. Harriet would love it, he was sure of that, but he wondered how long it would stay looking this nice.

"It looks really nice." He pulled April over by the belt loops of her pants, leaning down to press a kiss against her bottom lip. "And so do you, in case I haven't told you today. You look even nicer."

The redhead stretched up on her toes, kissing him back hard. "Decorating like this is kind of a turn-on."

"Seriously?" He couldn't help but laugh loudly against her lips, giving her another kiss.

"Turn-on, exciting, I don't know. The line is blurred." She giggled back against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It makes me happy."

"I think that I'm pretty good at making you happy, too," he replied suggestively.

Bending at his knees, Jackson reached down and grabbed onto his thighs, easily lifting up his wife with both hands and wrapping her thighs around his back. April complied and went with it easily, capturing his lips in another kiss, this one more heated than the last had been.

Though tempting, Jackson doesn't hold her up for long. Lowering down slowly, her back met the couch and he hovered on top of her, using his forearm to keep himself raised just enough that he didn't crush her. The weight of his hips rested on top of hers, filling that space there easily. She kept one leg hooked around his waist and made sure that he stayed pressed into her, not wanting any unnecessary space between them. It was right where he was supposed to be and exactly where he wanted to be, toy birds staring at them be damned.

A moan passed through April's lips and was swallowed into Jackson's mouth as he ground his hips down against hers. Her grip on him only tightened as she embraced him. She was happy to take every part of him, even in the middle of the living room. So happy and caught up in the moment that she doesn't notice the distinct pattern of footsteps that come from their daughter.

"Dada?" Harriet questioned, rubbing her eyes sleepily with a tiny fist. "Why you on Mama?"

April's hand slapped against Jackson's chest to try and get him off of her, grateful that there's no boner between them yet. Even if it certainly had been slow to that point. "Hey, ladybug," she greeted with a sheepish smile.

"What you doing?" Their little girl asked.

"Mommy and I are just having fun with each other," Jackson answered, lifting himself up further.

"I wanna have fun!" She cried out. April had to stifle her laughter.

"Come here, baby." She adjusted herself so that her legs were no longer underneath Jackson and tucked one leg beneath herself, reaching out for their girl. Harriet jumped up onto the couch and April assisted her, lifting her up into her lap. "You wanna have fun with Mommy and Daddy?" Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" Harriet squealed with excitement.

"Here comes the tickle monster!" Jackson threatened playfully, his hands reaching over to his daughter and beginning to tickle her ribs and abdomens. Harriet screamed with laughter, little limbs thrashing and a giant smile stretching across her young features as she tried to resist the tickles. April joined in with the fun immediately, kissing the top of her curly hair and gently tickling the back of her neck. Both parents couldn't help but laugh as they watched their little girl, going until they were all completely out of breath.

All three of them panting for air, Harriet had squirmed her way to laying on top of April's legs with her socked feet pointed toward her mother. A smile was still on the little girl's face, her eyes now wondering around the freshly decorated living room.

"Do you think the room looks nice with all the decorations, ladybug?" April asked her daughter.

"Yeah. When Santa coming?" She asked.

"Twenty-four more days," her mother answered.

"And then that tree is going to have all kinds of presents underneath it, just for you. As long as you keep being a good girl. Then you're going to get all of the presents from Santa." Jackson promised her.

April bent over, kissing a socked foot. "Do you think you could be a good girl till Santa gets here?"

"Yes!" Harriet answered enthusiastically.

"Santa will come at night and leave you all presents. Then after we wake up and you get to open your presents, we're going to go to Grandma Catherine's and Richard's house for a nice, fancy lunch. How does that sound?" Jackson asked.

Harriet flipped over to her stomach so that she could look at her father. "Mac 'n' cheese?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm sure that there will be some mac and cheese for you," he chuckled. "I'll make sure of it."

"Tonight?" She asked.

"Do you want to have mac and cheese for dinner tonight, ladybug?" April asked with a smile cracking across her features. There was no doubt as to what her favorite food of the week was.

"Yes pwease." She grabbed a fistful of April's jeans and pushed herself so she was sitting on top of her mother's legs properly, able to look back and forth between both of them.

"How about we do some mac and cheese, and broccoli? Do you think that you can be a good girl and eat some broccoli? I think Santa would approve if you did." The redhead suggested, running a hand over her daughter's head and raising her eyebrows."

"Okay," Harriet pouted.

"Atta girl," Jackson encouraged, reaching forward so that he could pick up Harriet. He lifted his daughter as high into the air as his arms would allow from his current position and she laughed loudly. "You're so good. Santa's going to have to bring you so many gifts."

April and Jackson shared a knowing look. Neither one of them was good at resisting the temptation to spoil her.

"Oh, birdie." Their daughter got distracted easily by one of the little decorate birds on the end table that they had picked up from Target, reaching out for it. Jackson lowered her so that it was within her reach and she picked it up, squeezing it with both hands though it wasn't particularly soft or squishy. "Can I keep? My room?"

"Sure, baby," April agreed with a nod of her head. Jackson laughed. "I think we can decorate your room a little more."


	2. Eggnog

It was a late night impulse that had led Jackson to grab his car keys and let his wife know that he would be back in a few minutes. She was busy in the bathroom with Harriet and getting her cleaned up and ready for bed with a warm bath, and he didn't plan on being gone for more than half an hour. April had genuinely been too distracted with their daughter to realize what he had said until he was already out the door. She didn't linger too much about it knowing that whatever it was, he would share with her when he returned home.

Two stops were all that he needed to make – one at the grocery store to get two cartons of eggnog from the refrigerated section and another by the liquor store to get a bottle of bourbon.

When he opened up the front door of the house and locked it behind him, everything was quiet. He couldn't hear the sound of April singing which meant that she must have already put Harriet down for the night. Their daughter went down pretty quickly these days after a bath, a bedtime story, and praying with her mom. Not every night was perfect, but this was one of the easy ones.

"What's all this?" April asked when she found Jackson in the kitchen.

He unpacked the bags one of at a time. "Eggnog…" he started slowly, putting the extra carton in the fridge and leaving one out. "And a little bourbon to spice it up." He smiled.

"Oh, you know that we shouldn't." Her lips pressed together though it did little to conceal the smile growing across her features. Eggnog was a holiday tradition that she loved to take part in and it had only become that much more enjoyable since she could drink legally.

"Neither one of us has to work in the morning." Jackson reminded her. "And Harriet's asleep."

She wet her lips as she eyed her husband, chewing at the inside of her lips before releasing the smile that she was attempting to hold back. "Fine." April agreed as she swiveled on her heel to open up the cabinet behind her and pull out two of the nicer glasses that they had, setting them down on the kitchen island between them gently. "Better make it worth it."

A decent amount of bourbon was poured into each glass and topped off with eggnog. April grabbed a spoon from the drawer and stirred both of them up quickly, licking it clean and dropping it into the sink to be taken care of later.

"Cheers." Jackson lifted his glass and April clicked hers against his.

"Cheers," she echoed.

Each one of them took a long sip from their glass before they moved to the decorated living room to sit down on the couch and drink together. The television was turned on and put on a random movie channel, neither one of them paying much attention to what was playing on the screen. Most of the time, by the time that Harriet was in bed and after a long day of work, each one of them was ready to curl up in bed for the night and try to squeeze in as much possible sleep as they could before their alarms went off the next morning. But at least there would be no alarms going off tomorrow, more likely to be woken up by their daughter than anything else.

"Are we going to have another?" Jackson asked once he had polished off his glass. He set it down on a coaster on the table, picking up his wife's leg and kissing her ankle.

"Another drink?" April squealed, ticklish with the simple touch. "Only if you get up and make it."

"Not a problem." Another kiss, this time on her shin. "You get frisky when you have dark liquor."

"That's not true." She swallowed the rest of her glass and handed the empty one over to Jackson as he stood up from the couch to go back to the kitchen. "It was just one time."

"Actually, if I remember correctly, it was multiple times in one night," Jackson disagreed, raising his voice slightly as he placed down both glasses in the kitchen and began to pour each of them a new one. "I mean, you wore me out. I didn't think I was physically capable of finishing that many times in such a short period. Physically, biologically, I really did not think it was possible."

Her cheeks deepened, nearly matching the scarlet of the throw blanket on the couch. "If I recall correctly, not that I actually remember much of that night, you were very into it."

"Oh, I was." Jackson laughed loudly. "I definitely was."

Once both drinks had been made and stirred properly, he joined his wife in the living room again and handed her a glass. A sip was taken to test it and make sure that everything was right, giving himself a little nod of approval as he settled down. This time, he was right next to her on the couch instead of taking her feet into his lap like he typically did.

"Perfect," April hummed in approval.

"You are." He turned his head and caught a quick kiss from her. "But be careful not to drink too fast. You downed the first one like it was candy."

"This is practically adult candy." She pointed out with a raise of her eyebrows. "But… this is not Christmas-y enough. We need something a little more. Hold on."

Setting down her glass on the coffee table, April stood up and grabbed her phone from the counter. She tapped through it to open up Spotify and pull up a playlist, tapping shuffle. Pressing down on the button a few taps so that the volume could actually be heard, the sound of Michael Buble's classic _It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas_ began to play through the speakers. A smile lit up the redhead's features, brighter than the twinkling lights on the tree.

"Now it's perfect." She stated contently, humming along before sitting down on the couch and grabbing her drink, taking another sip as she leaned into the piece of furniture.

"Why do you love Christmas music so much?" Jackson questioned. He didn't have anything against it but he had never known someone to love it quite as much as she did. He knew by the time that Christmas was actually here, he would probably be sick of hearing the same tunes over and over again between basically any public space and her listening. "I mean, don't you just start to tune it out?"

"No!" She answered dramatically, shaking her head. "I love it. It makes me happy."

He chuckled. "Are you sure you're not drinking too fast?"

"You now that I love Christmas music no matter what I have or haven't had to drink. Also, regardless of whether it's the appropriate season." She was guilty of listening to it during the summer occasionally. "You should enjoy it just a little more."

"I have nothing against it," Jackson raised his eyebrows, amusement filling the light color of his eyes. He took another sip of his drink, enjoying it slowly. The first drink having been consumed so quickly had a nice effect on him, going straight to his head. He doesn't mind. Since Harriet had been brought into their life, neither one of them had gone out much and alcohol had been included in that. "But no one loves it the same way that you do." He pointed out.

"I love the holidays more than most people do." April smiled fondly. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Not at all," he agreed with a nod of his head. "I'm glad you love them so much. It's good for Harriet."

"And for you." Her eyebrows rose. "I know you never had big holiday celebrations when you were a kid."

As the next song began to play on the shuffled playlist, the two of them fell quiet for a few brief seconds. Recognition clicked quickly, of course. The Christmas hits playlist was filled with songs that would have been nearly impossible for any American to have not heard before. It was all songs that everyone heard at some point or another, willing or unwilling. But as the verse began to play, April found herself compelled to sing along with the tune.

_"Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop._  
Mistletoe hung where you can see every couple tries to stop.  
Rockin' around the Christmas tree, let the Christmas spirit ring.  
Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling…" 

Soprano tones carried through the open living room marvelously and Jackson's gaze never strayed away from his wife as she swayed from side to side along with the music, holding steadily onto her drink. She paused between verses to take a sip and when she realized the way that he was enamored by her, a blushing smile filled her lips. She wet them, catching a stray drop of eggnog.

"What are you looking at?" April beamed.

"Just my beautiful wife." He answered with his teeth revealed with his smile.

"Oh?" She questioned. "You'll have to introduce me. I don't see her anywhere."

"C'mere, you." With his free hand, he cupped her face and drew her in closer, kissing her firmly. There was no rush to go anywhere between the two of them, enjoying their drinks and the music, and most importantly, each other.

When their lips finally parted from one another, April reached up to cup her husband's face and held him close for a few moments longer. Although most couples did suffer from some lack of intimacy after having children, and surely they had at the very beginning because they hadn't been together, but ever since Montana and getting back together, they had been inseparable. There was no lack of intimacy that either one of them had to worry about, and both of them were always satisfied when it came to spending alone time together.

"I do like hearing you sing," Jackson murmured, rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone.

"Should I start singing you a song before bed like I do with Harriet?" April laughed. "No, I can't. I have to fall asleep before you do so I don't have to listen to your snoring."

"Hey, I don't snore." So he did. But so did she.

"Come here."

April stood up from the couch, taking one more sip from her drink before setting it down on a coaster. She extended her hand down to Jackson and he gave her a curious look for a few moments before setting down his own drink, standing up and taking her hand as she wanted. She pulled him close to her and he moved along with her easily, releasing her hand and placing both of his on the curve of her hips.

"I love this song." That could have been said about quite a few songs on the playlist, but this was one that she had always liked, always listening to it as a child with her family.

" _Been hoping that you'd dropped in…_ " Jackson picked up with where the male voice sang.

"So very nice!"

"I'll hold your hands they're just like ice."

"My mother will start to worry."

"Beautiful what's your hurry?"

"My father will be pacing the floor."

"Listen to the fireplace roar."

The duet was easily passed back and forth between the two of them. April had a voice like an angel and easily matched the soprano tones of the female musician on the recording. Jackson wasn't quite the same musician that his wife was, but at least with this particular tone, there was nothing difficult about the range of the male who sang on it. Even for someone like him, it sounded nice passing back and forth with her.

Of course, when they reach the peak of the song and sing out the title of it together, the harmony is far from there. They paused their dancing in the living room to look at one another for a long moment before each one of them burst out in loud laughter.

"I really can't sing." Jackson chuckled with a shake of his head. One hand stayed on April's hips as he leaned over and grabbed his drink from the table, taking another sip.

"No. But you gave it a good try, so there's that." She smiled adoringly up at him.

Hazel eyes locked on with his seafoam ones. But they only looked at each other for a brief moment before their lips locked in another heated kiss. April leaned into him, momentarily forgetting that he was holding his drink between them, knocking into it and spilling a few drops of the drink on both of them.

"Oh! No!" She laughed with a shake of her head, glancing down at her shirt. "I'm sorry. You're so distracting."

"It's fine, it's not going to stain," Jackson brushed it off easily.

"I think maybe it's time to stop on the eggnog," April laughed at herself, shaking her head. "But maybe it's time to see if your theory about dark liquor is true since we're going to have to take off these clothes anyway."

"I'll gladly take you up on that offer."

And oh, was he right.


	3. Cards

There was a deep furrow in April's brows that Jackson had seen many times before, consistently in the operating room whenever she was deep into and focused on a surgery. Wrinkles appeared just above the bridge of her nose. She had complained about her hand beginning to cramp slightly a few minutes ago and then not brought it up again as she continued with her task. Once she was set on a task, there was nothing in the world capable of stopping her. That was a lesson that Jackson had already learned about his wife a long time ago. Even Riggs had been able to echo the sentiment and remind him of that after only knowing her for a few months overseas. Sometimes it was best to step back and let her do her own thing.

But that didn't mean that he couldn't try. April was one of the most stubborn women that he had ever known but he had grown up under the care of another significantly stubborn female surgeon. Jackson would have liked to think that had gotten him ready for treading the waters with just about anyone else in the future, his wife included. This seemed mild enough.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to take over doing some of those? I don't mind." Jackson asked, gaze focused on her despite holding onto their three year old daughter on his lap.

"No, no, I've got this," April answered with a shake of her head.

Although the actions disproved her words, she dropped the ballpoint ben in her hand briefly and stretched out her fingers, slowly bending each one of them individually. Her thumb popped loudly when she bent it in and she sighed before pressing her fingers against each other and allowing more of the knuckles on her hands to pop. There were a couple spots of ink dotted across her fingers but she had been careful not to smear any ink. She'd only had to rewrite one address so far and that had been from an incident with putting on the stamps. She thought that she was doing fairly well.

"You sure? We can split up the rest of what you've got left." He offered again.

"Babe, I love you, but your handwriting is so messy and so easy to confuse with Harriet's and I would like the post office to deliver them to the right place since we're already late getting them out this year." Her eyebrows crinkled up, picking up the pen again.

"Alright, alright," Jackson began to slowly back off. "But you do realize that Harriet is currently doing more to help you than I am, right?"

"Yes, because she's Mommy's special helper." Her hazel eyes softened as she looked at their daughter. She had been tasked with putting the stamps onto each envelope, sitting on her father's lap so he could watch her and make sure that she did it correctly and April didn't have to rewrite any of the envelopes. "And she's doing a very good job."

"Yes, she is," Jackson agreed. "And she's doing a very good job at it."

"Thank you," Harriet piped up.

As April checked off one more name from her list, she paused to count how many were left. "Fortunately, there's only eleven left," she let out a heavy breath. "So we should be done soon and then we can take these off to the post office. One more thing is done on my to-do list."

"We mail letter to Santa too?" Their daughter asked, looking with wide eyes between her parents.

"Yes, we will mail your letter to Santa." April nodded her head. "Did you put a stamp on it? It's got to have a stamp to make sure it goes all the way to the North Pole in time. That's a very important part."

"Yes!" She squirmed off of her father's lap and landed on her feet, hurrying back to her bedroom to get the letter.

"Have you seen what's in her letter?" April asked as she set off to writing names and addresses again.

Jackson chuckled. "Yeah. She wants a puppy, and a kitty, and a pony. I know that definitely came from your side of the family." He answered with a fond smile. As she finished up the address, he took it and added a stamp to it, putting it on top of the stacked pile.

"I believe it was you who put up all the farm animals in her nursery." She replied smugly. She knew why he had done it, of course. That had been back when they had thought they would be raising her separately and he had made sure that the nursery at his house still had a piece of her mother in it. It was sweet. The first time that she had seen it, she hadn't been able to stop smiling. "I wouldn't be opposed to having a pet, you know," she commented quietly after a few seconds, not wanting Harriet to over here. "It might be good for her to have a little furry friend around the house. It could teach her some responsibility."

"A pony?" He laughed.

"Obviously not a pony." She rolled her eyes. "And not a baby animal, either. That's too much work right now. But we could adopt a cat or dog from the shelter, one that's pretty much already trained with all of the basics."

"It'd have to be a cat." His nose crinkled slightly. Between a cat and a dog, he would have preferred a dog, but he had to look at their situation realistically. "Or we'd have to put in a dog door on the backyard because there's no way that we'd be able to come home and let him out enough. But I really rather not have a dog door. That's a safety hazard."

"Why don't we go check out an adoption shelter on our way home from work? I think she's old enough." April suggested.

As if cued, Harriet came back into the dining room where they were set up working, her feet slapping loudly against the hardwood floor. "I got my letter!" She announced loudly, holding it up for both her parents to see.

"Very good." Jackson praised and scooped her up. "We've got a few more cards to get through."

Pen on paper once more, April finished making her way through the list of people who would receive cards. She was the type who always wanted to make sure that she sent out more than enough, and they had begun to receive a few – primarily from her sisters and their families, who were always early with that type of thing. It was a nice opportunity to show Harriet photos of her aunts and uncles and cousins who she didn't get to see enough. But her list of Christmas card recipients went beyond just family, making sure that a good portion of the surgical and emergency room staffs also got a copy of the Kepner-Avery family card.

By the time that she had finished her way through the list, her hand did hurt as she passed over the last sealed envelope to her daughter for her to put a stamp on. There were a few extra copies of the card and envelopes and she picked one up, admiring the photos that had been chosen for it.

About a month ago, the three of them had gotten their photos done professionally for the card. Harriet was in an adorable red velvet dress with white tights and Mary Jane's on, her hair in two big, curly pigtails. Her little baby teeth were on full display with the bright smile on her lips. She loved to be in front of a camera and wasn't shy at all when it came to having her picture taken, something that April and Jackson both loved to take full advantage of. Their phones were filled with pictures of their daughter.

"You look so pretty and happy on the card, ladybug," she commented as she pushed it across the table toward Jackson and Harriet. "Do you want to put a copy of our Christmas card on the fridge? That way everyone who comes over can see it."

"Yes!" Harriet grabbed the card and bounded off again to put it on the fridge. It's low and at her eye level, but it would get moved up later. "Go mail Santa now?" She asked when she returned.

"Yes," April nodded. "Why don't you go put on your coat and a beanie? It's cold outside."

Jackson grabbed the pile of cards, shuffling them so they were more orderly as he stood up from the table and pushed the chair in. "I'm surprised that we didn't run out of stamps," he chuckled. "I guess she's going to be a little bit of a perfectionist just like her Mom."

"My hand hurts so much," April admitted with a huff.

"Lemme see it." He said. She stretched out her hand toward him and Jackson took it with both of his. His thumbs massaged into the palm of her hand, going out toward the edges and up toward her knuckles before returning to the center of it. A content sigh parted his wife's lips as he rubbed it, shutting her eyes briefly and her shoulders dropping down as she allowed herself to just relax. It was something that he hadn't seen her doing a lot of lately. Rationally, there was no need to get worked up or stressed about Christmas cards – but he was right to call her a perfectionist. That part of her came out stronger than ever during the holiday season.

"Thank you." April stretched up onto her toes to place a quick kiss against her husband's lips, pausing just to smile. "We better get on our jackets too so she doesn't get impatient waiting on us."

"We know that she is the real boss around her," Jackson agreed with a chuckle.

Both of them moved toward the front of the house so that they could get their shoes and coats from the hooks by the front door. April had just finished buttoning up her jacket when their daughter came barreling toward both of her parents. Jackson squatted down to tie the laces of her little boots that she had put on, a bright pink pair that she had gotten from Grandma Catherine.

"You ready to go mail our Christmas cards and your letter to Santa?" April asked.

"Yes, please!"


	4. Sick

"April, will you please slow down?" Jackson called out.

"You know that I can't do that. We're leaving for my parent's tomorrow." She insisted with a shake of her head. Two suitcases were laid out across their bed and she had taken over for packing for everyone in the family despite the fact that Jackson had attempted to stand up for himself multiple times. The way that the holiday itself seemed to affect her and being a bit of a control freak was mild compared to the effect that the prospect of seeing her family had. She was a nervous mess.

There was no doubt that April loved her parents and her sisters, even if they didn't always exist on the same page. They were a little more traditional in their beliefs than she was. It had taken them a while to warm up to the idea that she was at one point a divorced and single mom, but then when she and Jackson had gotten back together again and remarried, they had been much faster to accept the idea – citing that they had never really been divorced in the first place, that it was just a rough patch. Maybe there was some truth to that given the way they had always behaved around one another, but legally, it wasn't the truth. She had given up on that particular argument with them, though. It just meant that she occasionally had to walk on thin ice.

"I'm perfectly capable of packing for myself and Harriet. We're only going to be there for a couple of days, remember?" He prompted her. She shook her head, hair dislodging and falling in her face. "I know you don't feel well. You should sit down so you're not sick at your parent's."

"I'm fine," she resisted sniffling, not wanting to prove his point.

"Then look at me." Jackson challenged, his arms folding across his chest as he stepped toward her.

Her hands focused on the sweater that she was folding. "I'm fine." She repeated herself.

"Babe…" He touched her elbow gently as she placed the sweater down in the suitcase. April let out a loud sigh before she turned to look up at her husband. "Hey there, Rudolph," he greeted her with a sheepish smile.

"Shut up," she grumbled as her lips formed a pout. "It's just a runny nose. I blame the freeze yesterday."

"A runny nose and you've been sneezing. I haven't missed that." He corrected her gently. Jackson placed his hand on her forehead and felt her temperature, then gently feeling her glands. She didn't put up any fight against it even if she didn't lighten up on the pout. "You're lucky that you don't have a fever. How about you at least let me pack Harriet's stuff so she doesn't catch your cold?"

"Fine," she sighed. "I've been wiping down everything with Clorox so she doesn't get anything." She admitted.

"So you admit you are sick," Jackson chuckled, pushing hair away from her eyes. "Why don't you lay down and rest for a little while, okay? I'll go pack up Harriet's stuff for the trip and I'll make you some tea." He offered.

"Yeah, okay," she agreed.

He moved both suitcases off of the bed and onto the floor, lingering in the room as April kicked off her jeans and pulled back the covers of their bed and curled up beneath them. She looked small as she laid down on her side and pulled her knees into her chest. Jackson adjusted the sheets around her and made sure that she was tucked into them snugly. Even if she was likely contagious, he bent down and pressed a sweet kiss against her forehead before he went to do what he said he would.

Since Harriet was down for her afternoon nap and he didn't want to wake her, he went to the kitchen to make her tea. It took a moment of sorting through the different type of packets that she had before he decided on chamomile. He added a bit of honey to sweeten it and hopefully, soothe her throat if there was an irritation there.

When Jackson returned to their bedroom, April's eyes were shut and relaxed, her breathing steady although a little noisier than usual from her nasal problems. He smiled softly and opted not to disturb her, placing down the hot cup of tea on her nightstand before leaving her alone.

As he moved down the hallway toward Harriet's nursery, he could hear the sound of his daughter giggling. She had woken up on her own and apparently not needed either one of her parents to entertain herself – a good thing on a day where April was feeling under the weather, it would make it easier for him to go back and forth between the two of them. He knocked on the open door of her nursery gently to grab her attention before he stepped in.

"Hey, ladybug," he smiled at her. "What are you doing?"

"Princess party! No stinky boys." She crossed her arms and pouted. "Where's Momma?"

"She's taking a nap," he squatted down next to her daughter. "I won't interrupt your party. But can I pack for tomorrow? Remember, we're going to go to see Grandpa and Granny?"

"Okay." Harriet huffed loudly. "Be quiet." She ordered in a bossy way only a three year old could.

A small laugh slipped through Jackson's lips at his daughter's stubborn attitude but he complied with what she wanted. Moving over to her dresser, he pulled out a few outfits that he knew April would approve of. They were festive, almost all items that she had bought in the last month. She loved to shop for holiday outfits. None of it would take up too much space in their suitcases, but he knew what potentially would.

"Do you remember what Mommy and I told you about packing for the plane? You can't bring too much." He addressed her, squatting down to her eye level. Harriet huffed, arms wrapping around the stuffed bunny in her arms.

"Just all my animals," Harriet declared as she looked around. Jackson sighed.

"How about we just pick one or two animals?" He suggested, his brow raised. "Remember, Grandpa and Granny have lots of real animals at their farm. You can see the real thing."

"Big animals?" She asked.

"Uh-huh," he nodded. "Instead of bringing your stuffed pig, you can see a real, big, stinky one."

"Like you!" Harriet shrieked with laughter, pushing at her father playfully. "Stinky at Grandpa's. No stinky at my princess party."

"Alright, alright, you win," Jackson chuckled. "You have your princess party and I'll get my big boy stinky self out of here." He gave her a wet, noisy kiss on the cheek that made her laugh loudly before standing up to walk out.

Carrying out the clothes that she would need so he could pack them into his suitcase, Jackson was quiet as he stepped into his bedroom again. April appeared to still be sleeping and he couldn't tell if she had drunk any of the tea that he had made. He put Harriet's clothes inside of his suitcase before pulling a few more things out of his closet and a nice pair of shoes, putting them in and packing it up. He would let April deal with her own suitcase unless she asked him to or agreed upon his suggestion. He moved his own quietly to the side against the wall so it wasn't in the middle of the room.

The bed shifted beneath him slightly as he got on top of it with her, leaning past her to look at the tea. There was a slight line just above the top of where the tea was – she must have had a sip or two of it and gone back to sleep, at least. Something was better than nothing. The real test would be seeing if he could get her to take a little DayQuil.

April groaned slightly as Jackson laid down on the bed next to her, her husband still on top of the sheets. She stirred after a moment and her eyes fluttered, slowly looking over her shoulder to see him there.

"Hi," she mumbled, wiping the back of her eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

"Not very long." He answered, beginning to rub her arms. "I packed up Harriet's stuff. She was very bossy about having no stinky boys in her room while she was having a princess party."

The redhead laughed. "You're not even that stinky today."

"I know, right?" Jackson chuckled, relaxed. His thumb drew circles across the back of his wife's shoulder. "I hope the tea is okay. I put a little honey in it because I thought it might help with your throat some. I noticed that you didn't drink very much of it."

"No, it's fine. See?" April reached over and picked up the cup, taking a long sip from it and swallowing. "It's good. I just took a sip and fell right back asleep again. I didn't realize how tired I was until I actually laid down. Having that late-night shift and waking up early normally doesn't bother me so much, but today, it just took it out of me." She explained with a shake of her head.

"That's what happens when you're sick." He pointed out. "Do you want to take some DayQuil? I'm pretty sure that we have that or Theraflu in the medicine cabinet. If not, I can run to CVS."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I'll take a little NyQuil before bed and be as good as new." She insisted.

"If you're sure," he murmured, pressing a kiss on the back of her neck. "Oh, you're a little sweaty."

"Sorry." Her face scrunched up, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'll shower before bed. I guess I curled up under the covers a little too much." As she spoke, she pushed the duvet down but kept the thin sheet covering her body.

"I don't mind," he commented. "Do you want me to pack your bag for you?"

April shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll just do it after I shower or in the morning. It's fine."

"That's what you said about being sick," Jackson pointed out. "And you are not particularly fine. The fact that I got you to actually lay down about it means that you must feel even worse than you're actually letting on."

"That's not true," she tried to lie. "I just don't want to be any more miserable than I have to be for as long as we're going to be at my parents. They are already really good at getting under my skin when they want to be and I don't want to be extra snappy with them if it's over nothing." She explained. "But my legs and back are kind of sore if you're feeling generous enough to rub them?" A quick distraction.

"I can do that," he agreed easily. "Flip over onto your stomach and I'll start on your back." He instructed.

Listening to his words, she slowly turned over so that she was laying on her stomach and had her cheek against her pillow, looking at Jackson. He shifted so that he was sitting on top of his knees and placed both of his hands on her back, beginning to gently massage through some of the sore and stiff muscles there. A content groan escaped from her lips as he started. It wasn't something that she asked of him very often but she adored getting a massage from Jackson, even if it had to happen at a moment like this when she was feeling less than stellar. Maybe she would have to ask for it a little more frequently.

Her breathing began to even out a little more, tempting to fall asleep though she wanted to stay awake so that she could enjoy it. She wet her lips and let her mind reel through everything that needed to get done before they left for her parent's farm tomorrow.

"Did you pack stuff for Harriet's hair?" April asked, shifting her hips slightly. "The ponytails that match her dress?"

"Yep." Jackson popped the syllable and nodded his head. "Everything she needs is in there."

"Thank you, babe," she murmured. "Your hands work magic."

"You've said that before," he smirked.

"Well, your hands work PG magic just as much as they do R-rated magic. I enjoy both equally." A goofy smile softened her cheeks as she looked at him, watching his face with amusement.

"Equally? Damn." He swore. "That's insulting."

"Oh, hush," she shook her head against the pillow. "My back is sore and that feels like the most amazing thing possible right now. Let me have this moment. I want to die with you rubbing my back like this."

He laughed loudly. "I think we're a little far from that."

"A little," she agreed with a sigh. "But I hope I wake up tomorrow feeling better. Otherwise, I don't know how I'm going to survive being with my parents and sisters the next few days. They'll eat me alive."

"I'm not going to let that happen to you, baby, I promise." A huge, toothy smile stretched across his lips and he gave an amused shake of his head.

Jackson was well aware that her parents and her sisters could both be quite a lot to deal with from time to time, and he was lucky that her parents actually liked him this time. The first time that he had gone to visit them at their home, shortly after they had run away from the supposed wedding to Matthew, it had been tense. Now, they were undoubtedly much more relieved that they were together instead of separated. He knew from what April had said that there was nothing good about how they had reacted to it. He hadn't seen her sisters since the wedding itself and he could only hope that they were going to take it easy on him, but really, there were no guarantees with any of them.

Hopefully, Harriet would be the star of everyone's attention and affection.

"Are you sure that I can't try and talk you into taking a little DayQuil? You know that you're going to feel at least a little bit better once you do. Don't tell me a common cold killed off the doctor inside of your head. That'd be a shame," Jackson teased, tickling his fingers against her hips gently. She squealed, just a little too tired to let out a proper laugh.

"I guess I'll take some. Just let me nap until it kicks in. Half an hour and then I'll be up and at 'em. I don't want Harriet to realize I'm sick. I know she loves Doc McStuffins and her lamb, but I prefer to play pretend for that." Her eyebrows crinkled up with her request.

"Of course," he agreed with a nod. He pressed a kiss against her temple before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom to get the DayQuil out of the medicine cabinet for her. He measured it out into the cap before pouring it out for her.

Sitting up just enough to take it, April swallowed it and made a face, quickly following it with some of the tea. "Thanks," she murmured, wetting her lips and trying to get rid of the taste. "Wake me up in half an hour. Seriously, okay?"

"Sure." Jackson bent down, giving a kiss on her forehead this time. "Sleep well, Rudolph."


	5. Visiting Family

"I promise we're almost to Grandpa and Granny's house, just another minute or two," April soothed her daughter, sitting in the backseat of the car with her and rubbing her gently.

Although the flight from Seattle to the Toledo airport was not particularly long, nor was the drive from the airport to her parent's farm in the rental car, Harriet had been less than thrilled about the travel arrangements. The altitude change had hurt her ears and she had spent a good portion of the beginning of the flight crying in her mother's arms, and the end of the flight crying in her father's arms. She hadn't slept a bit on the plane like they both had hoped she would and she was as grumpy as could be. Both Jackson and April hoped that she would be willing to go down for a nap as soon as they arrived and settled in.

"Almost there, ladybug," Jackson glanced at his wife and daughter through the rearview mirror as he turned onto their road. "You can take a nice nap, have a little snack when you wake up, and then we can see those animals you wanted to see? How does that sound?"

Harriet doesn't answer either one of her parents, light eyes remaining teary and a wet pout jutting out her lower lip.

"Look, there's their house." April pointed out the window, trying to get her daughter to look. "We're here!"

The car hit a slight bump as Jackson pulled up into the driveway and slowed to a stop before it was put in park. Harriet looked no more thrilled to be there than she had been on the flight but she doesn't protest about having finally arrived. April unbuckles her car seat and scooped her out of it as she got out of the car, letting her husband get their bags.

"April!" Karen Kepner called out as she stepped onto the porch.

"Hi, Mom." April waved her fingers. "Harriet, can you say hi to your Granny?" All she did was bury her face into her mother's neck. "Sorry, she really did not like the flight. She needs a nap."

"Oh, that's fine." The grandmother waved her hand, unbothered. "We're just happy you're here."

"Hi sweetheart," Joe stepped out of the house after his wife. "Glad to see you."

"Hi, Dad." She smiled at her father.

Jackson stepped up with their luggage, setting them down to give a hug to his mother-in-law and a firm handshake to his father-in-law. "It's nice to see you both again," he smiled. "It's been too long."

"Agreed," Joe replied as he returned the handshake. "Why don't you guys come on in?"

The fussy toddler was passed to her grandmother by request, Karen quickly smothering her in love and kisses. Harriet didn't protest to any of it but she didn't return it, either, staying quietly fussy. She was in desperate need of a nap and it was quite clear that she didn't appreciate having her typical routine thrown off by hopping onto a plane this morning.

"Why don't I go put her down in my old room, Mom? Then we can all catch up." April suggested.

Passing Harriet back to her mother's arm, April walked down the familiar hallways of her childhood home. Little of it had changed, the same photos and crosses on the walls that she had known her whole life, with a few new additions of her and her sisters as they had grown up and started families of their own. Her bedroom was almost the same that it had been all of those years ago, siege walls covered in pictures and posters from her teen years, a twin bed with a pink quilt across it. Harriet didn't put up any fight as her mother sang her to sleep, going down quickly.

When April returned to the kitchen where her husband and parents were, the conversation seemed to be going surprisingly well. There was always a little part of her that was worried when it came to visiting family, but it seemed as if that wasn't necessary for now.

"Libby, Kimmie, and Alice are still coming over for dinner, right?" She asked about her sisters as she chimed into the conversation.

"Of course," Karen answered with a nod. "But not until a bit later."

"Can I do anything to help out with dinner?" April raised her eyebrows, glancing around the kitchen.

"Well, I do still need to make a salad. Why don't you come help me with that?" Her mother suggested.

Both women shifted toward the other end of the large kitchen to begin working on washing and cutting up vegetables for a salad as well as making their own dressing, Joe and Jackson both grabbed a beer and went to sit down and chat in the living room, turning on a game on the television. Jackson couldn't help but just be a little tense around his father-in-law. He knew that April had always been a Daddy's girl and that he was protective over her, more so than her mother was. He had always been a little worried that his father-in-law didn't like him.

"Harriet's grown so much since the last time that we got to see her," Joe commented, taking a sip and leaning back in his chair. "It seems like she's taking a lot after you. She really does look like you."

"She acts a lot like my mother so I guess that is my fault," Jackson commented with a slight laugh. "She's got a little bit of an attitude but it's cute. She's large and in charge and she knows it. Even though she's pretty grumpy right now, she's excited about the holiday. Just like April."

"April has always loved Christmas," her father smiled fondly. "It was her favorite growing up. She'd save up her allowance all year long so that she could get something for her sisters."

"That sounds like her," he laughed. "She's just about gone crazy with decorating and writing out all of the Christmas cards by hands. You guys should be getting one soon, we sent them out a couple days ago."

"Looking forward to it," Joe smiled. "Let me guess, Harriet is all over it?"

Jackson laughed. "Of course," he nodded. "She's the star of the show. No doubt about it."

"April loves that girl like nothing else in the world," he commented. "I always knew that she was going to be a great mother once God came around and gave her the chance. What happened with Samuel, that broke my heart. I'm glad that she got another chance. We were worried about her, about the both of you, when she called and told us that you were officially separated and that she was pregnant. But I'm glad you found your way back to each other."

No one ever brought up Samuel to them. Most people treated it as if it was a taboo subject. It was a surprise for Jackson to hear it without any warning. He paused and took a long drink from his beer before setting it down on the coaster in the table.

"I am too," he agreed after a pause. "I don't know what I would do without her. She's the love of my life." He confessed.

"And you are hers," Joe echoed the sentiment.

A comfortable silence fell between them for a few moments with Jackson reflecting on their son and what he had almost lost with the way that they had fallen apart temporarily. He didn't know where his life would have been without them and he didn't want to know. Even with Harriet in his life, he would have been a shade of miserable if he had remained separated from April.

"Hey, you two," April greeted as she joined her father and husband in the living room, giving her dad a kiss on the cheek before setting herself down on Jackson's lap and folding her legs. "Getting along?"

"Of course," Jackson's arm slipped around her waist. "We were talking about you and Harriet."

"Oh! That reminds me." She reached into her pocket, pulling up photos of Harriet and passing her phone over to her father. "New pictures of the little ladybug. A few more from Thanksgiving with Catherine and then a few others. We've been debating whether we want to take her to a mall Santa."

"The mall Santa's are kind of creepy," Jackson remarked.

"But they are a part of Christmas tradition," Karen spoke as she walked into the living room.

"That's pretty much where we're stuck," April chuckled with a shake of her head. "They are creepy but it is a tradition. Maybe the hospital will do something with a Santa that's less creepy. Think you can talk the board into something?" She twisted her neck around to look at her husband.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. I can try – enough of us are parents that they might go for it."

A knock at the front door caused everyone's heads to turn toward it as Karen got up to get the door. Once the door was open up, the sound of Libby's voice and her kids scarred in through the house. A smile lit up on April's face as she recognized the sound of her older sister and she got up off of her husband's lap to go and greet her and her nephews with firm hugs.

"Where's little Harriet?" Libby asked April.

"Oh, she got a little grumpy on the plane. We put her down for a nap." She explained. "I'll probably go get her in another fifteen minutes or so, I don't want her to be too fussy with everyone here."

"Well, the boys are excited to see her." Libby glanced down at her sons as they ran into the living room. Joseph was almost ten now and Jason was eight, and both of them were apparently very much into football judging by the way that they plopped onto the couch and immediately began to talk to Jackson about the game playing. "Or were. Now maybe they just want to talk to Jackson," she laughed.

"It's nice to see you again, sis." April smiled. "It's been too long since we got together like this."

"It has," Karen agreed. "We need to do this more often."

"Maybe next time we'll have to come to visit you in Seattle," Libby suggested with a bright smile. April's eyebrows shot up as her sister spoke. "It'd be good to get the kids out in the city some, you know? We could go see the Space Needle. That would be exciting."

"We'd love to have you come and stay with us something," the trauma surgeon answered with a nod. "I just feel bad. You know how busy we can both get with work."

On the couch in the living room, both of Libby's sons were leaning forward to look at the television. Jackson was seated on the armchair perpendicular, body turned toward the television though he was leaned toward both of the boys to chatter about the game and the plays that were occurring. It was a little different to be around kids that were so much older than his daughter was, and he can't help but feel the slightest pain of nostalgia. Samuel would have been just shy of turning six if he had been here with his cousins, undoubtedly just as into the football game on the screen as they were with Jackson raising him. The holidays were a celebratory time, but it was hard not to remember the missing pieces.

"You kids know that I played a little football in college, right?" A braggadocios grin accompanied Jackson's words. "A linebacker. I was pretty good."

"Really?" Jason asked.

"Mom!" Joseph shouted loudly, looking over the back of the couch. "Can we go play football with Uncle Jackson in the yard?"

"How about you boys wait until after dinner for that?" Libby suggested with a raise of her eyebrows. "Once Aunt Alice and Aunt Kimmie get here, we're going to sit down and eat."

As if cued, another knock was heard on the front door. It was opened again and the sound of the other two Kepner sisters and their families carried through the air of the house as more greetings and hugs were exchanged as all of them were welcomed in. Kimmie's son, Evan, plowed through the gathering of adults in the entryway to go join his cousins and Uncle Jackson watching football on the couch, seven years old and desperate to fit in with them. He reminded Jackson the most of Samuel and was welcomed with open arms. It was a small bias but a good one.

With the entire Kepner family gathered beneath one roof, everyone squeezed into the living room together. April woke up Harriet, still a little quiet but no longer in a teary state. There wasn't quite enough seating for everyone even with all of the chairs pressed up against one another. Jackson, Libby's husband, and Alice's husband all opted to stand and eat, chattering away mostly with one another.

Once all of the food had been served to the kids and adults at the table, it took clicking of a fork against a glass to get everyone to settle down. Hands were joined and the kids were hushed as Joe began to say grace for the entire family.

"Father, Praise You for the nourishment the You provide." He began. "Thank You for meeting our physical needs of hunger and thirst. Forgive us for taking that simple joy for granted and bless this food to fuel our bodies forward into Your will for our lives. We pray that we will be energized and be able to work for the glory of Your Kingdom. In Jesus's name, Amen."

"Amen," Karen replied firmly.

"Amen."

The powerful word echoed around the living room table through everyone's mouths except for Jackson, though no one other than his wife seemed to notice. The Kepner family did know that he didn't share the same beliefs that the rest of them did, but now more than ever, he had been very respectful of April's beliefs. Harriet seemed to be interested in it and he had allowed for that to grow in whatever way that she wanted.

"Let's dig in." Some of the chatter dies down as people began digging into the ham and side dishes that were served with it. Everything was good, consistent with what it had always been in the past years that they had spent the holidays together. This would be their Christmas dinner, after all – April and Jackson hadn't been able to take off closer to the holiday for more than a day, and Libby was taking her boys to Disney World for Christmas. This was their opportunity for everyone to spend time together.

"Everything is delicious, Karen," Jackson complimented.

"Yeah Mom, it's great." Alice chimed in.

"Thanks for having all of us ever," April smiled across the table at her mother. "I love Seattle, but I do miss all of you."

"We miss you too, April."


	6. Singing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Changing things up! While the prior chapters have been set in a "modern" time, this chapter is a throwback – takes place roughly sometime in season 8.

After raining all night and the following day, the freeze that had come as the sun set for the evening left the roads dangerous. City trucks had gone through with salt to try and alleviate some of the problems but black ice was still an inevitable part of Seattle, nearly impossible to avoid. That was just what happened in a city so far north that managed to rain so much. There was a reason that the emergency room was always busy with victims coming in from motor vehicle accidents, and it went beyond just plain old shitty drivers.

By the time that the ER had settled down enough for any of the residents to actually go home, April had absolutely zero interest in getting behind the wheel of a car. Even if she'd gotten new tires on her car upon moving to Seattle, she still was hesitant to drive with so much ice on the road.

"Hey," she approached Jackson. "Do you wanna head across the street to Joe's?"

"Sure," he nodded. "I heard that Karev and the others are heading over there too."

"I guess no one wants to drive with the roads being so bad," she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to go change, I'll see you over there?" She suggested with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Sure thing."

Heading up to the residents' lounge, April changed out of her light blue scrubs and into a pair of jeans a thick black sweater, tugging on and tying up maroon boots. A coat was thrown on over her sweater as well as a beanie on her head, trying to combat the still freezing temperatures outside. Moline had cold winters being so close to the lake and she had gotten relatively used to having to dress for it. It was a pretty short walk across the street to the bar but she had to take it just a little slower to avoid slipping on the ice.

Jackson was already seated at the bar on the other side of Lexie, Meredith, and Alex on the other side of the brunette. Cristina was on her way, apparently having gotten caught up in a surgery going longer than expected. All of them had been busy rotating in and out of the E.R. and the O.R. today. The operating rooms had been fool nearly all day.

When April pushed through the door of the bar, basking in the immediate warmth that comes from the heater, she looked around. She spotted her co-workers sitting together at the end of the bar. Joe had put up Christmas decorations for the holiday as well a Menorah that was half-way lit. Dr. Bones had a Santa had on top of his skull, and there was another new addition to the bar. A shiny, new karaoke machine was highlighted in the corner by the television.

"Hey, guys." April greeted them as she sat down on the last bar stool, giving a little wave at Joe so he would come over whenever he was available. "It's freezing out."

"Hey," Jackson smiled at her, shifting so his posture wasn't pushing her out.

"Hey April," Lexie said. "Are you drinking today? Or are you the designated driver?"

Hazel eyes rolled. "I'm not the designated driver. I was thinking about sleeping at the hospital tonight, honestly. I don't like driving when it's this icy out."

"You get used to it after a while," Meredith said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I've driven with it forever and it's not so bad."

"Maybe you should be the designated driver then," Jackson suggested with a snort.

"Yeah right," Karev chortled. "She's already downed three shots of tequila." Typical Meredith.

Joe made his way down the length of the bar. "Can I get you anything?" He asked April.

"A Jack and coke, please." She smiled while pulling cash out of her wallet, handing it over to him. Normally she would have just had a beer, but this would avoid any teasing – and all she had to do to get to a bed for the night was walk across the street. "Thanks."

"You're actually drinking tonight," Meredith quipped. "I'm impressed."

"Are you getting up the nerve to break in the new karaoke machine?" Joe suggested with a smile as he handed the drink and a napkin to April with a polite smile. "Someone's got to do it."

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Her cheeks heated up and she shook her head, taking a sip from the straw.

"Someone's gotta," Lexie echoed Joe's sentiment.

"Yeah, Kepner," Alex spoke up. "Someone's gotta."

Even though they were mostly all friends now, if there was anyone in the group who was going to be soloed out for the sake of embarrassment, it was still April at the end of the day. There was a little bit of lingering jealousy about the fact that she was chief resident when everyone else had wanted it, except for Lexie, obviously. Lexie just found her to be a bit annoying and had some residual harsh feelings about the way that Meredith had bonded with April after the shooting instead of her own sister.

"It's got all kind of music on it," Joe chimed in again. "Christmas songs, regular songs, anything you like. It's a nice machine. Got two microphones and everything, if you want to do a duet."

April let out a heavy sigh. "Fine," she agreed. "But I'll only do it on one condition."

"What?" Meredith questioned.

"You and Alex have to do some kind of duet together." She straightened up smugly, assuming that there was no way the two of them would ever agree to that. It wasn't worth it in her eyes.

"Okay, fine," Meredith said easily.

"No way in hell!" Alex interjected, a scowl appearing across his features. "I'm not doing that."

"Yes, you will," Meredith disagreed and elbowed him. "Go on, Kepner. Get up there."

The redhead looked in disbelief at the two of them, another sigh escaping. She took a long sip from her drink as if it would satiate how ridiculous she was about to feel. "Okay." She mumbled after swallowing, standing up from her stool and pushing her hair back out of her face. Walking over to the karaoke machine, all of her friends turned to watch as she tried to keep herself from slouching down miserably. If they saw she was flustered, they would swarm like sharks.

Turning on the machine and tapping onto the microphone, she winced slightly at the high-pitched noise that confirmed it was working. A few other people inside of the bar glanced over at her. She scanned through some of the Christmas songs, feeling as if they would be less embarrassing than other alternatives.

The tunes of a famous Christmas song began to play after she selected a song. She tried to avoid looking at any of her coworkers as they stared at her, all of them looking far too amused by the fact that they had actually managed to talk her into doing this. Even in the poor lighting of the bar, it was easy to see that her cheeks were nearly red enough to match her hair. Jackson felt bad, though there was something different about the way that he watched her compared to the way that everyone else was staring at her.

"Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree for me, been an awful good girl.  
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight."

Eartha Kitt's lyrics slipped through her lips easily, a beautiful soprano tone filling everyone's ears. Those who hadn't been paying attention to the nervous redhead before most certainly were now. She had a voice like an angel, attention-catching even for those who didn't particularly enjoy Christmas music. The way that she sang it was just as beautiful as the original version of the song, even if the timbre of her voice had a different quality. She wasn't quite as sultry as Eartha.

"Santa baby, a '54 convertible too, light blue. I'll wait up for you, dear.  
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight."

There was no heckling and that calmed April's nerves, the further that she got into the song, the more that she seemed to relax about it. Her shoulders sank back down, swaying with the music just a bit as she continued into the melody.

"Dammit," Meredith swore, knocking back another shot. "Who knew Kepner could sing?"

"I did," Lexie admitted, chewing at the inside of her cheek though it didn't hide a smile. "Sometimes I used to overhear her in the shower when she thought no one was home."

"Yeah, me too," Jackson nodded his head. "She sings in the shower a lot."

"I wouldn't have agreed to do a stupid duet if I had known that," Meredith shook her head.

"Told you so," Alex grumbled.

As April continued with letting out the song, her confidence in what she was doing grew and she was a little more natural with her singing, losing some of the timid nature. It opened up her vocal cords more beautifully than before. All of the research was true – confidence was attractive, and it certainly helped to have such a natural talent backing it up.

"Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring, I don't mean on the phone  
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight.  
Hurry down the chimney tonight…  
Hurry, tonight…"

Last note lingering in the air of the bar, it was finally cut off with a round of applause from the people whose attention she had managed to enchant for the duration of the song. Even her group of friends managed to muster up a few claps for her. Despite the positive attention that the sound of her voice had managed to get both from strangers and co-workers alike, her entire face was red by the time that she had sat down next to Jackson again.

"How much were they making fun of me?" April asked quietly as Alex and Meredith got up toward the karaoke machine, Lexie trailing after both of them.

"Not at all," Jackson answered with a shake of his head. "They all thought that you were really good.

"Oh," she huffed out in surprise. "That's nice."

"Well, it's because you are really good." He gave her a real smile, finger running around the rim of his beer bottle. "I'd be lying if I said you sounded like Eartha Kitt, but you sounded really nice up there. You're good at singing."

April's eyes rolled back and she shook her head. "You don't have to say all of that. It was just a dumb bargain."

"I mean it," he insisted. "You have a really nice voice. I've heard you in the shower, too."

"Really?" She questioned. "I only ever sing in the shower because I thought the water was too loud for you or Alex to be able to hear a thing." Her lips formed a small pout.

"Sounds like you've been singing your entire life," Jackson remarked.

"I mean, I kind of have." Eyebrows wrinkled her forehead. "I did church choir when I was little. And then, every Christmas, the choir would go out caroling a couple of times during the month of December. I liked it. I never wanted solos or anything like that, I've always liked doing it in a group, but it was fun. I had a good time," she reminisced.

"Maybe we should get you to go caroling around the hospital," he suggested with a teasing smile.

A snort left her lips, leaning over and elbowing him playfully. "Yeah, right," she said sarcastically, pausing to take a sip of her drink. "There's no way I'm going to do that."

The conversation lulled between them as they listened to Alex and Meredith attempted to cover a Queen song. Neither one of them was a particularly good singer – maybe on their own, it wouldn't have been that bad, but the two of them out of tune both with the song and with each other was a terrible combination. The fact that they were following after April's angelic tones didn't help. They were a mess.

"I'm sure no one would complain if you took another turn up there after hearing them," Jackson smiled.

"Maybe not." A small laugh slipped out of April's lips with a real smile following, finally relaxing. "But I'm not going to be that person who hogs the karaoke machine. Everyone hates that person."

"True," he chuckled. "Are you sure that you want to sleep at the hospital tonight? I was going to drive home. I don't think Alex is going which means you could actually have a night without him around."

"You've been drinking, you shouldn't. Especially not with the roads so icy." She shook her head.

He waved his hand. "This is the first and only beer that I'm having. I'll be fine to drive. Plus, it's late enough that there's probably not going to be a whole lot of other people on the road between here and the apartment."

"Are you sure that you don't mind doing that?" She asked.

"On one condition." He suggested, holding up a finger.

The redhead's brow furrowed. "What is it?"

"You have to sing for me again on the drive home." Jackson gave a toothy smile. "It's not even that long a drive, so you can't complain about it that much. I know you rather sleep in your own bed than the on-call room."

"Really?" April questioned in exasperation, chewing at the inside of her cheek and giving a shake of her head. "Fine. I'll do it. Only because it means I can take a super hot shower."

"Alright," he chuckled. "Come on, let's go before they get into anything too crazy."

Downing the rest of her drink quickly, she nodded her head. "Alright, I'm right behind you." She smiled. "And thanks."

"For what?" Jackson asked.

"Just for... being you." April smiled.


	7. Baking

The aroma of vanilla floated through the entirety of the small apartment that Jackson, April, and Alex lived in.

Most days, it didn't seem so small. The three of them were constantly floating in and out of the hospital with their hectic work schedules, that if all three of them were home at the same time, it was likely that all three of them were asleep or getting ready to go into work. But since the month of December had rolled in, some of the empty space of their apartment had been filled with a glorious and perhaps insane amount of decor. Garland consumed empty spaces and there was constantly candles out, burning if April was at home. A medium-sized Christmas tree had been put up and decorated in the corner of the living room with an angel that only she believed in sitting on top of the tree.

Even though Alex had made some snide remarks about the decorations when they had first gone up, once he had learned about some of the other things that came along with April's holiday celebration, he had shut up. When she wasn't working or sleeping, she had taken to baking. As small as she was, she wasn't eating all of it by herself.

"What've you got going this time?" Alex questioned as he walked by the kitchen toward his bedroom.

"I'm trying some red velvet cheesecake cookies." She answered with a bright smile, dusting off her hands on her red apron. "They just went in the oven a couple minutes ago and I'm trying to clean up but I keep finding little bits of something. Hopefully, they'll be yummy."

"Maybe for once we'll be the ones telling you to clean up after you crap." He remarked with a snort before he kept walking to his room.

There was a roll of hazel eyes as he kept walking. April squatted down and turned on the oven light to get a look at her cookies on the sheet, beginning to rise. Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she stared at them, hoping that they looked right. She loved red velvet cheesecake and so rarely ever had it, never wanting to splurge on desserts unless she was the one making it. It was something that she had been wanting to master but just hadn't had the time.

Deciding that it was fine, she turned the oven light back off and straightened up, leaning against the counter opposite of the oven. There was still a bit left on the clock but she didn't feel comfortable leaving the room, just in case she didn't hear the timer go off.

"What's this?" Jackson asked as he stuck his finger into the mixing bowl, getting a glob of the mixture on his fingers and sucking it clean. "Damn, that's good."

"That also has raw egg in it," April remarked, eyebrows raising. "Red velvet cheesecake cookies."

"It's fine," he shrugged his shoulders, sticking his finger back in and getting some more. "Are you ever going to stop baking? Not that I'm complaining, but I'm pretty sure that Karev is starting to put on some more weight."

She snorted with loud laughter. "You better be glad he didn't hear that. Is the mix good?"

"Yeah, try some," Jackson encouraged.

This time he stuck his middle finger into the mix before holding it out to her. Her brows knit together as she stared at him for a moment, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again as she stepped forward. April wrapped her fingers around his wrist to hold his hand steady before gently wrapping her lips around his finger and sucking off what remained of her cookie mix.

Once the mix hit her taste bud, she let out a dramatic moan before she pulled off of her fingers, shaking her head. If that was an indicator of how her cookies were going to come out, then she was sure they were going to be delicious.

"That is so good," she finally spoke with a wide smile.

"Yeah, it is," he chuckled, wiping off his fingers on his pant legs. "Those cookies are gonna be great. How many did you make?"

"Two dozen," April answered sheepishly.

"Really?" He laughed. "You're going to have to start taking this stuff up to the hospital. We still have a couple of sugar cookies left and the cinnamon rolls."

"Probably," she agreed with a nod of her head. "I can take up whatever you, I, and Alex don't eat tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the nurses in the E.R. will descend on it like vultures." That was true of everyone in the hospital, though. Free food in the midst of all the work they did was always an exciting joy.

"That's assuming there are gonna be any of these left."

"We would each have to eat eight cookies for them to all be gone by tomorrow morning." April's eyebrows shot up.

He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure you're the only one here who would have a problem with that."

"You two are ridiculous," she shook her head, hand coming up to tuck some hair behind her ear. She untied her apron from her front, shaking it off over the sink before folding it and setting it down on the counter. "You're lucky we spend all of our time on our feet. Although I'm pretty sure there's no way to justify all of the sugar you're getting."

"I think we'll be fine," he smiled, amusement twinkling in his light eyes. "And as for you, I could lift you up with one arm. I don't think you have anything to worry about either."

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "I'm not that small."

"You want to bet?" Jackson didn't give her the time to answer. Wrapping his right arm around her slender waist and bending at the knees, he quickly scooped April up and tossed her over his shoulder so that she was hanging on either side of him. Her first response was shock before she began to squeal against his hold and nearly dislodge herself, but spurts of laughter were mixed in with the protest.

"Jackson!" She nearly choked on her laughter, hitting his back with tiny balled fists. "Put me down! I can't believe you!"

Booming laughter left the male and Jackson lowered April back down on the floor, making sure that she was steady on both feet before letting go of her. "Oh, come on. You had to know that was going to happen after you said that." He beamed down at her.

"I wouldn't have said that if I thought you were going to do that." She shook her head, cheeks a warm shade of red as she tried to smooth her hair back out again. "You are such a child sometimes. Taking every little bet that comes your way."

"Not every bet," he corrected, eyebrows raising in his forehead. "Just the ones I know I can win."

No longer resisting, her eyes rolled. "I think that's even more childish."

"Nope, it just means that I know what I'm doing." The smile on his expression didn't falter or a moment, amusement clearly worn across his features. He leaned back against the kitchen counter. "How much longer on the cookies?" He asked.

"Another two minutes, I think," April answered with a glance at the timer. "But they'll have to set for a minute after they come out. You can't just grab them hot off the sheet or they're going to fall apart completely." Something that she already knew both he and Alex was guilty at doing when she had made that batch of sugar cookies a few days ago. But that didn't mean that either one of them had actually learned their lesson.

"I know, I know," he muttered. "I'm gonna grab a beer. Do you want one?" He offered.

"Sure."

The fridge opened and he pulled out two cans of beers, opening both of them before sliding one across the counter toward April. Both of them fell silent for a few moments as they took a sip, relaxing. Each of them had work that morning – it was late in the evening now. Once the cookies were done and put in a container, April planned on taking a shower and heading to bed. She was tired even if being around Jackson seemed to give her some more energy.

When the timer on the oven went off, she straightened up quickly and placed down the beer, grabbing her oven mitts. A brilliant smile was on her face with the excitement to see how today's baking project had turned out. Either way, Jackson and Alex would eat it, but she wanted to know if they were as delicious as they had sounded in the recipe. Turning off the oven and opening it up, she pulled out the sheet of cookies with a deep inhale. The cookies smelled even more amazing than they had when she'd been forming them and putting them down on the sheet, that unique flavor of red velvet hitting her nostrils and pushing a large smile across her freckled features. She set them down gently on the counter, shutting the oven and pulling off her mitts.

"There are going to be amazing," she sang, doing an excited little dance that made Jackson laughed with adoration.

"Are you sure I can't just grab one from the sheet?" Playfully, he reached forward with one of his hands as if about to grab a cookie.

"Uh-uh!" April clucked her tongue and slapped his hand away lightly. "You'll mess them up."

"Hey!" Alex's once suddenly called out from the bedroom. "Does that mean the cookies are ready?"

"Not yet!" April called back, knowing that there was no way he would actually listen to her. He would absolutely just grab a couple off of the sheet and take them back to his room, undoubtedly getting crumbs everywhere in the process.

Jackson chuckled, smiling. "You want them all for yourself, don't you?"

"Maybe just a little bit." She held her fingers up, a centimeter apart to demonstrate.

"You might want to hide a handful of them before he gets impatient and comes in here anyway," he suggested.

"I might have to," she laughed easily, smiling up at him. The expression reached her hazel eyes as she looked up at Jackson, something special sparkling in her gaze. It was a smile reserved just for him.

The same smile was returned to the redhead as he looked down at her. "Want me to grab the spatula for you?"

"Sure," April nodded. "Let's get this show on the road."


	8. Traditions

"At least we weren't supposed to go to work today anyway," Jackson commented, scratching the back of his head as he looked out the window. Snow was pretty much the only thing in sight, covering cars and everything else in view. A blizzard had rolled in overnight and now, the results of it were clear. No one would dare to go out in it unless they absolutely had to. "Sucks for Alex, though, he's stuck at the hospital. No way he's getting home in all of this."

"I doubt he has any problem with it," April remarked, stretching up on her toes to look over his shoulder. "I'm sure there's a field day of stuff coming into the E.R. now."

"You're probably right," he chuckled. "There's got to be some good stuff coming in."

The redhead gave a little nod of her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. She was glad that the power and more importantly, the heat was still on, though she kept a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders while inside. "I almost wish we were there." She muttered, a little pout forming on her plump lips. Her head tilted to the side. "But I'm happy to stay inside."

"I'm sure we can find something else to do." Jackson glanced at her and then back out the window. Both their cars were covered in snow, April's completely and the top of his just barely peeking out. "You grew up in a normal family. Don't you have any holiday traditions or something?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Mostly for Christmas day, though."

"What did you guys do?" He asked.

"Well, every year, we would always open one present on the night of Christmas Eve before going to bed. Everyone would get a brand new pair of pajamas. We'd put them on and get all snuggly, have a cup of hot chocolate, then go to bed. The new pajamas the night before were our little tradition." A smile curved at her lips as she remembered back fondly to the days of her childhood when everything had been simple and easy. There was a reason that she loved the holidays and the fact that they had always been so wonderful as a child helped. She missed her family this time of year, but residency made it impossible to really get the chance to go home. "I loved it. I love a good pair of pajamas still."

He looked over at her, warm sea foam eyes scanning over her frame. Checkered pajama pants were visible beneath the blanket she had huddled around her shoulders. "I can tell." He remarked. "I don't know anyone who owns as many pairs of pajamas as you do. Most people just sleep in old college shirts."

"I do that sometimes," she shrugged her shoulders, adjusting the blanket. "I just prefer these."

"Guess that means I know what I'm getting from you this year," Jackson chuckled. "Pajamas."

"You and Karev both, actually. So maybe you'll stop walking around in your boxers in nothing else." Her cheeks turned a rosy shade with the teasing comment fluttering through her lips.

"Well, now I know what to get you too." He smiled.

"That's fair."

_________________________________________________________

 _SIX YEARS LATER_.

The top of the hangers squeaked against the rack as April shifted through the racks of toddler clothes. It was easy for her to get caught up in shopping for Harriet, no matter what the time of the year was. The fact that it was Christmas time only just gave her an excuse to go a little more crazy than usual without any kind of judgment from anyone else. Even though she typically tried to remain frugal, even on her attending salary, spoiling came naturally with her little girl. She just couldn't resist when Harriet was as cute as she was.

"What do you think about this?" She pulled a particularly cute pair of pajamas off the rack, pink with reindeer antlers and a big red nose on the middle of the shirt. "It's cute, isn't it?" She smiled.

"Yeah." Jackson tilted his head as he examined it. "It's cute."

"You don't like it." She chuckled and hung it back up on the rack. "I told you we should have done this sooner. All of the cute stuff is already gone." She clucked her tongue.

"Work." It was an excuse for both of them, unable to help it. Their jobs dominated their lives even though they made every possible effort to spend as much time as possible with Harriet. They were both good parents even though they were busy. "You know that," his smile softened. He wasn't worried about it even if this was a team project. They would find something that would work well.

She nodded. "I know," she hummed. "I just want to find something perfect. And something matching. She'll actually remember and appreciate stuff this year, you know? I know this isn't her first Christmas but it's an important one still." Every Christmas was.

"We can always try another store if you're not liking anything here," Jackson suggested. He continued to sift through the rack of clothes that he was looking for.

"What about Old Navy?" The redhead suggested, glancing up at him from the other side of the rack.

"I don't understand what your obsession with that store is," he chuckled.

"The one dollar fuzzy socks, probably." April smiled brightly, giving a little shrug of her shoulders. "I love their socks. They always have comfortable and cute stuff that isn't overpriced. You know I appreciate things that aren't overpriced." That he was well aware of.

"You know that we can afford fuzzy socks that cost a little more than one dollar." He remarked with a shake of his head. "Do you want to try Janie and Jack? I'm sure they have something that you'll like. They always do."

A hum and sigh left her lips as she pushed through the end of the rack before nodding her head. "Yeah, let's try there. Nothing here is singing to me."

Her fingers reached out for her husband's and they interlocked together as they walked out of the store and into the rest of the mall. It was crowded with other Christmas shoppers trying to finish up their list. Most of her Christmas shopping was done, everything big, though a few little things were still being picked up here and there when she couldn't resist. It doesn't take them long to reach their new destination, only a couple of stores down.

"What do you think about this?" Jackson held up a matching pair of navy pants and shirt, the shirt embroidered with a Christmas tree and little ornaments on it.

"Mmmm," April hummed as she thought of a polite response. "I don't love it."

Even though the selection of things here were nicer than they had been at the other store, the selection was smaller. It doesn't take long for the both of them to go through everything the store had available and even though April does find a little dress to buy for Harriet, it's not what she came there for.

"You know what? I know what I want. I'm going to pull a you and just order it off of Amazon Prime." She decided as she took the bag with the dress from the cashier and they walked out of the store.

"That's fine with me." Jackson agreed.

Two days later when the package arrived on their doorsteps, it was bigger than what Jackson was anticipating. He grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and opened it up, pulling out three packages of clothes instead of the one that he expected. It's only when he realized that just one of the three of the outfits was for a toddler that it didn't make any sense.

What had April ordered?

"Hey, babe?" He called out over the television so that she could hear her in the kitchen. "Your package from Amazon is here. Come here for a minute, will you?"

He could hear her coming before he saw her, turning to greet her. As he opened up all three packages and pulled out their contents, he realized exactly what it was that she had ordered – something different than he realized what she was going for. Jackson was well aware of her childhood tradition, but he hadn't thought that it entailed anything like this. At least it hadn't during the past years that they had gone through with it together.

"What's all this?" Jackson asked, holding up the reindeer onesie that was apparently his.

"Well, the pajamas before Christmas is a typical Kepner family tradition…" April started, her shoulders giving a shrug and tucking her hands into her front pockets. "But I was thinking that maybe we could put a little twist on it and make it a Kepner–Avery family tradition to do matching pajamas. It'd be so cute for family photos and, come on, these are adorable." She grabbed Harriet's from the package as she spoke and held it up. "Harriet's going to look so adorable in this. So, so cute." She grinned.

His brow furrowed though a smile slowly cracked across his features, shaking his head and letting a slight chuckle slip from his lips. Even if it wasn't something that he would have ever thought about for himself, there was no denying that something like that would look absolutely adorable on their daughter. She could pull off anything, but that would be especially cute.

"Alright, alright," Jackson gave a nod of his head. "I think we can do that. You're right, she'll be adorable."

"I told you." A grin brightened April's lips, her hands clapping together. "It's going to be so cute. I promise. Why don't you try yours on and make sure that it fits okay? I wasn't too sure about the sizing because you're so tall but so fit, so it might be a little baggy on you." She warned. "But we need to hide this from Harriet. I'm going to wrap up mine and hers."

The loving mother hoped that Harriet would remember what they had done last year but there was no guarantee of it. Either way, she knew the little girl would be excited by the prospect of getting to open a present early. She always had as a kid.

Both of them went back to their bedroom together and Jackson tried on the onesie as April packed up the little onesie for Harriet and her own, making sure to put a little mark on the packages so she wouldn't confuse them with the other big bundle of presents that would be under the tree. There were a couple already, but most of them would go up the night before Christmas so they could keep up with the Santa Claus rouse for as long as their little one would believe it.

"What do you think?" He asked with a sheepish expression, modeling the onesie. As a husband, he was always happy to do what he could to please her. It was a little baggie around his waist, but otherwise fit just fine.

"I think that you look like one big, adorable papa reindeer." She beamed at her husband. "I love it."

"Thanks," he chuckled and gave a shake of his head. "But papa reindeer is only doing it for mama reindeer."

"And I am just fine with that." April stepped forward, stretching up and giving him a gentle kiss.

"You're lucky that I love you so much." Jackson teased her, placing a little kiss on her nose.

"Yes, yes I am."


	9. Naughty or Nice?

April couldn't believe that she had let Arizona talk her into buying this.

When the two of them had gone Christmas shopping together, she had assumed that it would be for both of their daughters and maybe a little bit for their respective spouses. But the blonde was a little more adventurous and certainly more open than the redhead was. She had been the one to drag her inside of a Victoria's Secret, completely intent that they were both going to get something fun and festive for a little holiday naughtiness. It turned out that they had pretty different ideas of what was going to be a fun time for the holiday. She had always chosen nice over naughty. Maybe this year it was time for a change.

"This is way too much." April shook her head as she held up the outfit that Arizona had picked up for her, chewing at her lower lip. "Seriously, I don't even think that this is sexy."

"Oh, shut up." The blonde rolled her eyes though she smiled. "It's perfect."

"Perfect?" Her eyebrows raised and she shook her head. "I don't know about that. It kind of seems like it's a little too much. All of the little straps are just a little too cagey. I don't want to look like I'm in some kind of weird video."

"Fine." Arizona gave in slightly. "Okay, this one is perfect then. You'll look great in it." She thrust her new selection over toward the redhead.

Even though she does agree to purchase the red, lacy teddy that Arizona had picked out for her, she was almost positive that it was going to stay in the pink sack for a few more weeks before she decided to return it to the store once the holiday season was over. It was just a little over the top for what she typically liked. She liked to keep things nice and simple.

But come one particularly cold winter night with their daughter had gone to bed early, she can't help but eye the little pink sack in the corner of her closet, half covered by a cardigan that needed to be put away. Normally, she wouldn't leave out clothes like this, but she hadn't wanted to catch Jackson's excitement if he noticed that and she never brought it out. There was a bit of extra time for the night that they didn't normally have. It seemed like a shame to just let that opportunity go to waste. She had bought it, she might as well put it to use.

"This is way too much." The same words were repeated to herself as she put on the lingerie. It was high-neck with a section cut out of the middle. Almost all of the material was in the front with a thong cut in the back, although sheer enough that her breasts were entirely visible.

Running her hands over her hair to smith out some of the frizz on top, she looked at herself in the mirror. It was definitely something that he would like, Arizona had been right about that.

Plus, this was a good opportunity to prove all of the spark and everything else was still there. There were occasions where it may have seemed like it was gone because they were so overwhelmed with work and being parents that they didn't have time to be husband and wife again. She wanted to make sure that tonight wasn't one of those nights. Even if the love there ran so much deeper than just the physical aspects, the physical aspect was a fun portion. A little reminder of that would be fun. Not that they needed it, she just wanted it. She was pretty sure that he was going to feel the same way.

She straightened up her spine to look a little more confident. April knew that was one thing that Jackson really liked to see on her and it would be the cherry on top of the cake. Or maybe it was the other way around – it was a little hard for her to tell sometimes. Taking a deep breath, she opened up the door from the bathroom to the bedroom and stepped out, waiting until his head turned to look at her. She watched his jaw drop.

"W–wha…" For once, Jackson was speechless.

April's eyebrows raised up, smiling at him. "Naughty or nice?"

Her husband stared at her for a long moment before bursting out with laughter. "That's your line?"

"I stole it off one of the signs at the store." She admitted with a shake of her head. "It's terrible, I know. But you're supposed to be so in awe with what I'm wearing that you're not actually listening to anything coming out of my mouth."

"Stole it off the store sign," he chuckled as he echoed her words, shaking his head. "Who knew you were a little thief?"

"What, was it that bad?" Thin eyebrows raised up as she looked at her husband expectantly.

"You can say anything you want as long as you're wearing that." Jackson grinned as he pushed himself to sit up, gaze darkening as he examined every soft curve of her body. She looked gorgeous.

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes, smiling as she got onto the bed next to him. "You like it?"

"Trying to decide if I like it better on you or if I'm going to like it better off." A smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth, unable to keep his eyes from roaming on her face. Some people might have thought that she was pretty in an average way, but he had always been attracted to her – some subconscious part of him had known that there was more behind that sweet looking face, and her laying out in a see-through teddy was proof of that. All he wanted to do was stare at her breasts. And he did for a long moment.

Jackson chewed at the inside of his cheek as he forced his gaze back to her eyes. Harriet was in bed early and he had found another boost of energy upon seeing her like this. He could definitely stay up a while.

"I guess you'll have to see both and decide." April gave a little shrug of her shoulders, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She loved seeing him like this.

"I damn well will."


	10. Mistletoe

Since April, Jackson, and Alex had all moved into their own apartment a few miles from the hospital, they had gotten used to having their own space. Even though Meredith's house was nice and seemed rather large, it hadn't with how many people had lived inside of it at any given time. Yet here they all are again, crowded inside of the frat house.

This time, however, there was a good excuse beyond lack of other options.

Though the frat house was not as decorated as their own apartment was due to April's antics, there was still Christmas decor covering most of what was visible to the eye. Garland and a big, decorated tree in the corner of the living room were most of the decor. On par with traditional holiday treats, eggnog spiked with some strong liquor was being passed around enthusiastically. If they weren't on call, there was no excuse not to think – or at least, that seemed to be the common attitude beneath the Grey-Shepherd household. Most of them wanted to take advantage of what time they got off to the fullest possible extent.

"This is way too strong," April complained with a shake of her head, holding onto her glass just a little tighter as she looked up at Jackson. "I can't believe Meredith is on her third glass of it." Not judgment, just genuine surprise.

"It's not that bad," Jackson replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He had just started on his second glass of it, leaving her behind on her first. "Or maybe you just get used to it."

"Hush. You're twice my size, your tolerance is better than mine." She pouted.

"Doesn't help that you're a lightweight." He teased her, taking a sip. "You wanna sit?" With his head, he motioned toward one of the open armchairs in the living room.

April settled down on the actual chair with Jackson sitting on the arm of the furniture. "I probably should have brought some food," the redhead remarked as she looked around the gathering of people. "I should have known that they were going to serve pizza."

"It's not like Mer can cook," he laughed. "But no, I like your baking kept at our place. It's fine."

"That's just because you liked to hoard it to yourself. I don't even know how many times I've vacuumed up crumbs out of your room." Even though the words might have seemed harsh, there was a kind, teasing smile on her lips.

More comfortable at the household now that she wasn't an unwanted guest living inside of it, April didn't mind hanging around and chatting with everyone else. Meredith and Cristina seemed to remain attached at the hip that or the hip of their husband's, but she didn't let that bother her. Owen and Lexie both made their way over to the pair sitting on the chair together, as well as Alex grumbling about something to Jackson that she avoided paying attention to. Sometimes, she was just better off not knowing.

"Do you want me to grab you a slice of pizza?" Jackson asked, leaning down toward her. "Or another drink?"

"No," she shook her head and stood up. "I'll go with you."

Abandoning the chair momentarily, she followed him toward the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was empty from the other people attending the little get together. But that was perhaps because the eggnog was already in the living room and people seemed to care about that more than the actual food that had been ordered.

Jackson grabbed two paper plates and handed one over to April. Each of them got a slice of pizza and April got a fresh glass, getting some water from the kitchen sink and filling it up to try and balance the alcohol that she had already consumed earlier.

"It's kind of nice that it's quiet in here," April remarked before taking a bite of the cheese pizza.

"Yeah," he agreed with a nod of his head, sipping at his eggnog. "Can't believe we used to all live inside of this place. I'm surprised no one ever actually went postal." He chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure I almost made Lexie once or twice." She admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. "The whole chore wheel thing, remember? She almost lost her mind when I suggested that. She hated it." Though it had been a little frightening at the time, now a fond laugh slipped through her lips at the memory.

He laughed as well. "Yeah, she kind of hated you back then." That had been common knowledge.

"Well, everyone did." The redhead gave a little shrug.

It had been a sore spot for her once before but it wasn't nearly so bad now that she had been accepted by almost everyone in the group. Sure, she was still teased now and then, but it was a lot better than it used to be. Now, she was happy. Living with Jackson and Alex was easier than it had ever been. Maybe there was still a couple of kerfuffles here and there, particularly with Karev, but she got on quite well with Jackson and she was grateful for that.

"They don't anymore." Jackson offered up, a smile drawing across the curve of his lips slowly. "I mean, it probably helps a lot that the three of us moved out. But you're not so bad." He teased, nudging her slightly.

"It's easy when I do all of the chores," April suggested with raised eyebrows and a pointed look.

"Yeah, it is," he chuckled in agreement, nodding slightly. "You make it easy."

"Well, I try." A cutesy smile filled her lips as she looked up at him, something twinkling in her eyes. She took a sip of her water, leaning back against one of the kitchen cabinets. "And I like to live up to a certain standard that the two of you just are not that great at meeting."

"You can blame Karev for that one," he commented.

"I know." Real laughter followed her comment. "He's a mess but at least he pays rent on time."

A smile remained on Jackson's lips and he glanced out toward the living room. "I guess we should go join everyone else again." He remarked although he didn't quite mean it. It was just for the sake of being a good party guest, something ingrained in him from a young age. That was just the price of being an Avery.

"Yeah, I guess…" The words left her lips like a sigh.

Standing by the entryway to the kitchen, he motioned for her to go ahead of him and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes even if there's a little hint of sarcasm in the pull of her lips. April took a few steps toward him. As her eyes moved up to look at his face as she passed, she caught a glance at something else – something considerably surprising. She was almost positive that Derek must have hung it up there as a joke on Meredith.

A dainty piece of mistletoe.

"Oh." The syllable escaped in a little huff as she recognized it.

Jackson's eyes turned upward to it, temporarily freezing. "Oh." He echoed.

"I, uh…" April wasn't sure what she was trying to say, only attempting to break any kind of awkward silence between the two of them as they stared at the little piece of greenery.

Neither one of them knew what to say.

So instead of saying a word, Jackson just acted. He leaned down and cupped her cheek with one of his large hands, sealing his lips on top of hers in a warm, gentle kiss. Her face was warm in his hands. April froze initially before her shoulders sank down as she relaxed and leaned into him, lips softening against his. It was new and yet familiar at the same time, a comfort to be found there that she had never experienced with another man before. She didn't know what to call it, but she liked it.

Each one of them stayed there for a long moment, lips pressed into one another. No one else in the party was paying any attention to them which was certainly a good thing given that neither one of them would have known what to do about that kind of attention.

When their lips finally parted from one another and each of them was left absolutely desperate with the need for air, there was still a lack of any idea of what to say. Wide, hazel eyes met the usually confident gaze of seafoam ones. But instead of the typical self-assurance that was in his gaze, there was confusion. There was a surge of feelings there that he had never quite experienced, a lack of conviction as he stared down at her. It had been meant to be played off as a joke, but suddenly, he couldn't. He didn't have any kind of smart-ass response for her.

"M–Merry Christmas." April finally managed to blurt out, her tongue running across her lips.

Her heart felt like it was pounding a hundred miles a minute inside her chest. There was a warmth in his cheeks and she tried to blame it on the fact that his hands were cool, but really, her cheeks were redder than the sweater she was wearing.

"Yeah," he chuckled out with a smile cracking across his features. "Merry Christmas."


	11. Memories

"Babe," Jackson called out. "You left your wedding ring by the sink."

"Hm?" It took her a moment to process what he had said, twisting around on the couch to find him standing behind her already, her wedding ring held between two of his fingers. It looked small compared to his larger fingers though as he slipped it back onto her ring finger again, the diamond looked gloriously large. "Oh, I took it off while I was making the salad. I didn't want it to slip off in the sink." She shifted it on her finger slightly, making sure that it was secure before she beamed back up at her husband again.

He moved around the couch, plopping down on the sofa next to his wife. "Dinner was good," he complimented. "Certainly filled Harriet up. She went out like a light after her bath."

"She's her father's daughter," April replied with a bright smile.

"That she is," he chuckled in easy agreement as his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her in comfortably against him. "But I'm glad that she's got your smile. Makes me happy just looking at her, seeing you so clearly."

A fond smile curved across the redhead's lips as she leaned into him, taking a deep breath and getting a whiff of his cologne. He smelled nice as always. It was one of the things that she loved most about cuddling up against him like this. He was muscular and firm which might not have been appealing for some, but everything else about cuddling him was perfect. He was always warm and smelled so nice. They had spent plenty of nights like this.

"Do you remember the night that you proposed to me properly with this ring?" April had been far too attached to her wedding ring to consider getting rid of it, and that had turned out to be a good thing. She hadn't wanted a new one when they got married the second time. "I was so surprised that you found it in my sock drawer."

"I do." Jackson smiled. "That's a cliche hiding place. I told you."

It had been a simple night, looking back. But that had been intentional. April had told him about it had been just a little bit uncomfortable to have Matthew's proposal be in front of absolutely everyone that she knew and respected. She had been ecstatic, of course, but there had been no choice but to say yes. He hadn't wanted to repeat that with her by going over the top. He just wanted a moment between the two of them and their daughter. She had been the only other person in the room. And she had clapped and squealed happily, even though she hadn't exactly understood what was happening other than both of her parents were happy. She had just wanted to smile too.

"You were wearing the same cologne that you're wearing right now," April pointed out with a smile.

"How do you remember that random detail, out of everything?" He questioned with an amused grin.

"I just do." She smiled sweetly. "It's my favorite and you know that. You cooked me dinner after you got the recipe from my favorite Italian restaurant, the place down the block. You made the spaghetti carbonara just as good as they do. Then you made homemade gelato which I had no idea you even knew how to do. It was so good."

"Except for the pistachio," Jackson chuckled with a shake of his head, his front teeth showing. "That was so bad. God, at least the mint chocolate chip came out good."

"Except for the pistachio." A loud laugh came out. "I almost forgot about that."

"Well, that's because I had to bring out the ring and distract you by popping the question." His thumb drew circles in her shoulders. "No distraction quite as great as asking you to marry me. Worked like a charm."

Her fingers interlocked around his. "Yeah, yeah it did."

"But then we got to have our little engagement party right before the holidays last year. Your parents thought they were coming just for Christmas and we got to surprise them. You loved that." Jackson nodded his head as he thought back to the fond memory.

Even if sometimes her family had the habit of making him nervous, especially during any amount of extended time around them, he was glad that they had been there and able to celebrate. It was something that they had certainly appreciated – her father had confided in him about that when the girls weren't around. He knew that they had never been fully on board with the divorce between them, which meant that they had been eager to accept them getting married once again. But it really had been the best thing for their family, judgmental in-laws aside. Now, they were able to give their daughter the life and family that she deserved. She wouldn't have memories of when mom and dad had been separated or passing her back and forth. She would just know them as happy and in love. There would be no issues there.

"Mom was so happy about that," April smiled. "She was thrilled. I don't think she ever liked you as much as she happened to on that day. I'm pretty sure that she wanted to claim you more than me that day. Seriously! She loved it."

"Well, while I'm always happy to make my mother-in-law happy, that was about making you happy." He reminded her.

"I know." Her features remained bright as she looked at her husband.

"I mean it." Jackson twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. "We both screwed up in the past but there was no way that I was going to let either one of us keep making the same mistake over and over again. Going to Montana with you… that really put a lot of things in perspective for me. How crazy we had been up until that point." There was an emotional vulnerability there that he rarely shared. April was the only one who ever saw it.

She took his hand with both of hers, holding it gently. "I'm glad. There's no one else I rather spend the rest of my life with. I can't believe I dated around – on Tinder, of all places! Gosh, that was so ridiculous. I can't believe I actually did that." She shook her head with more laughter.

"It was driving me crazy." He chuckled. "I hated it so much. I just wanted to pin you down and take you for myself."

"I would have let you if you wanted." April kissed the back of his knuckles. "I absolutely would have."

"Good to know," he replied with a nod of his head.

Pushing her hair back behind her shoulder to get it out of the way, Jackson leaned toward her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was gentle though no less passionate, a sweet and chaste kiss. He held onto her face even when their lips parted from one another's, keeping the distance between them minimal.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied. "More than anything else in the world."

"Except Harriet." Both of them said in unison.

Laughter followed their synchronicity, both of them relaxing as they leaned apart although their hands remained holding onto one another. That was a habit for them, keeping a little bit of contact whenever they could. Even when they had been separated, they had still managed to be in sync. Now that they were together again, it was more than ever. Their perfect little family unit was functioning at the highest capacity and everyone was happier than they had ever been.

"I'm glad that we have all of these memories together," Jackson murmured, letting out a breath. "Even if they weren't all easy. We're better off for everything that we've gone through. We're stronger as a couple for it."

"We are," April agreed with a nod of her head. "I know that. And I love you even more for it."

He lifted up their hands, kissing the back of her knuckles individually. "Harriet's better off for it." Something they were both glad about. "And that's pretty important." That was everything, for both of them. The one thing that they had always been able to agree on, no matter what was going on between them, was that they wanted the best possible childhood for Harriet.

"Yeah," she agreed with a little nod of her head. "And maybe you can break out that carbonara recipe again this weekend and do a little bit of cooking." She teased with a smile.

"Maybe," Jackson chuckled in agreement. "I think I can manage to pull that off."


	12. Gift Wrapping

"Ow!" April yelped suddenly.

"Sorry, babe," Jackson apologized a moment later, smoothing his hand over the hair that he had just messed with gently. "You had a little piece of tape in your hair. I'm assuming that was Harriet's doing?" He questioned with a raise of his brows, waiting for the nod that followed from his wife.

"Probably," she ran her fingers through her hair as she spoke, letting out a breath. "She's been helping me with some of the gift wrapping for friends. Trying too. She insisted on wrapping Grandma Catherine's gift all by herself and that one is… currently, a mess that needs to be redone. She actually did a really good job of getting the top of it pretty and smooth, but the sides are just a little too advanced for where she's at right now." But that was pretty normal. There were plenty of adults who still couldn't wrap a gift properly and Harriet already had the genetic advantage of being April's daughter.

"Leave it that way," he shrugged as he sat down next to her. "I think Mom would like it that way."

Her eyebrows raised up. "If you're sure."

"I am. She only starts to expect perfection at the age of five." He gave a teasing smile. "Do you need any help with wrapping the rest of them?" He offered as he moved the scissors close to her reach.

"Do you think that you can tie some of these bows for me? They're slowing me down right now." As she spoke, she reached over to grab some of the extra ribbons that she had laid out and smoothed out the red piece of it between her hands.

"Uh…" he chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that's going to be a no. How about labeling?"

"You should at least learn how to do this," April commented with a chuckle as she shook her head at her husband. "Here, just watch me do this. I promise it's not that hard." She smiled reassuringly, turning toward him with the ribbon in her hand.

"Whatever you say." He offered, chin dropping down to rest on his hands as he watched her.

When it came to making festive bows to place on top of presents, it wasn't just a typical bow like the one that they had tried to use to teach Harriet how to tie shoes. She was far from that simple when it came to gift wrapping presents – especially for her family and coworkers, she liked to show off just a little bit. Most of them looked as if they had been bought from a store and not done by hand. It took practice and nimble fingers, both of which were surgical skills. She had already put a layered bow on the flat box containing a necklace for Arizona, and now, she wanted to make the perfect rosette bow to go on top of a present for Chief Bailey.

Of course, even when she took it slow, that didn't mean it was any easier for Jackson to follow. He had the dexterity for it but not the patience. Arts and crafts had never been something that he had much of a talent for it, only taking it up whenever Harriet wanted him to sit down and join her while she was working on something.

"There, that's all you have to do." She announced once a perfect red rosette was in her hands.

"Yeah, that's it," he chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "How about I just stick to regular old wrapping for you? I'll even use a ruler for a sharp edge, just like you do." He sucked up.

"Fine." A smile was bright across her lips with the compromise, handing over the ruler.

Though this was one of the areas in which the two of them were not quite as synchronized as they were with others, such as parenting or the O.R., the two of them managed to find a pace that worked for both of them. With as meticulous as April was about making sure that her bows for the packages were both perfect and beyond the most basic form of them, it slows her down enough to get close to the same pace that it took Jackson to wrap the standards as perfect as April's expectations required.

"You know, we're putting in a lot of effort considering that most of these are going to get completely shredded by Harriet on Christmas morning." He chuckled as he looked up at his wife with a smile. "The only people I know who open these properly besides you is Arizona and Bailey."

"Well, then it is a good thing that their gifts look perfect." She quipped with a smile.

"They do," Jackson agreed. "And so do all of Harriet's."

"We still need to decide if we want to do potentially do a pet for her." April raised her eyebrows, twirling some of the extra ribbon between her fingers. "I'm not sure how exactly we would hide that for the next two weeks. Or, you know, wrap it."

His hands folded together, fingertips tapping together. "It would be a big responsibility for all of us."

"Uh-huh…" she nodded slowly. "But she would so love it."

"She would." There was no disagreement there. "We'd have to clean the litter box daily. I'm not sure if she's quite ready for that yet. There is worrying about all of the furs, though. We would have to vacuum the floors and lint roll the furniture more than we already do. Plus, one of those tower things they claw at so the cat doesn't tear up all of the furniture." Mostly at her insistence, even if they both split who did it. "It'll be a bit of work for us. But… I'm okay with it if you are."

The decision put to her, her lips pressed together and she slouched toward. There was no doubt that she would do anything to see that brilliant smile light up her daughter's face – there really wasn't much of a decision to make, it was just a matter of figuring out all of the other little details that would come with owning a pet. She normally was opposed to pets as gifts because of how she had grown up, knowing that it was a huge responsibility to take care of animals. Even if she wasn't raising Harriet on a farm, maybe this was how she could share that bit of her life experience with her daughter.

"I think that we should do it. She'll be so happy if we do." April decided with a nod of her head, looking up toward her husband's ever-changing blue-green eyes to see him agree.

"Alright," Jackson accepted. "But in that case, I've got a gift for Mommy and Daddy to go along with it."

Her head tilted, eyebrows perking up at his remark. "And what exactly is that?"

"An iRobot Roomba. No more vacuuming the floors. We can set it to vacuum during the day, come home to clean floors, and one less thing to clean up after with a cat." He suggested, both of his brows raising high in his forehead to see if she would accept the proposition.

"Oh, god, that sounds so sexy," April replied with a loud laugh, leaning forward and grabbing her husband's face to plant a kiss on his lips. "Yes, we can definitely get that gift for Mommy and Daddy. I love it."

He laughed with her. "I'm glad you find vacuuming robots so sexy."

"Anything that cleans up a little and gives me more time with my husband and child is very sexy." She replied with a teasing grin. With the ribbon in her hand, she reached around his neck and wrapped the thin red string around the back of his neck, using it to tug him forward and give another sweet kiss on his lips. Both of them lingered near one another, her nose brushing against his affectionately as they frequently did.

"I'm definitely on board with that." A smile brightened Jackson's expression. "But I'm guessing you're still not yet on board with the idea of getting an actual maid, huh?" He'd tried here and there, always with the same answer.

"No way," she chuckled with a shake of her head. "This is as close as I am going to get."

"I guess I can live with that." He smiled back at April.

"Come on, let's get these presents put in the closet before Harriet can see any of them."


	13. Snowball Fight

Snowfall had completely covered everything in sight overnight. Blissful white coated the streets and cars, left a few grumbling homeowners out in their driveway with the attempt to shovel it to the side so they wouldn't be trapped. Inside of their snug apartment, Jackson, April, and Alex were lucky that the heating was still working and hadn't left them desperate for warmth. It was just another Seattle snowstorm. A little more sunlight and hopefully, things would begin to melt.

"How the hell am I supposed to drive in this crap?" Alex grumbled.

Even if the warmth inside was preferable, he had still managed to drag his two roommates outside with him to help. Jackson and April had a rare day off as mandated by the limit of hours that residents were legally allowed to work in any given week, even if they would have rather gone in, minus the road conditions. Karev, however, hadn't quite reached that yet which meant he was tasked with figuring out a way to navigate through the snow and icy roads in order to get to the hospital. It was fortunate that they lived only a couple of miles away from Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. But he would make sure that they were just as burdened with helping him out.

"It's not that hard to get snow off of a car," April quipped as she adjusted her gloves on her hands, stretching out nimble fingers. "But it'll help if you actually open the door and turn on the engine. You realize that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Karev grumbled. It took him a moment to get the car door open so he could turn it on.

"I still don't see why this is our problem," Jackson motioned to April and himself. "Or why you woke me up for this." He wasn't much of a morning person, particularly on the days where they were no reasonable explanation for why he was up so early.

"Be nice to each other." The redhead elbowed him gently, a smile softly resting on her lips.

"Yeah, Avery, don't be such a dick," Alex grumbled.

"You too." April shot him a glare. "Come on, this snow isn't going to move on its own."

With a sigh, Jackson moved to help April with getting some of the snow off of the hood of Alex's car and off the top of it. There was some ice frozen on the windshield that would take a little bit of time for it to thaw off completely. No one had come to get rid of the snow in the parking lot but a few early risers had already begun with the task of driving over it in order to make it somewhat accessible.

"Can't believe I have to go into work like this," Alex sighed.

"You could have just stayed late in surgery like we did yesterday," April said with a satisfied smirk across her lips.

The older male let out a huff as he moved a small chunk of snow off the hood of his car. Instead of pushing it onto the ground like the rest of it, though, he grabbed a good portion of it and balled it up in his hands to form a perfect snowball. He hadn't had a normal childhood, but he was familiar enough with this part of it.

Without making any fuss about it, Alex promptly threw the snowball at Jackson, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Hey!" Jackson shouted in protest. "What the hell was that?"

A giggle escaped from April's lips with a snort, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a failed attempt to stifle the noise. Spotting it clearly, Jackson's eyes rolled as he grabbed his own mound of snow and quickly formed a ball with it. He threw it toward April, not putting quite as much force behind it as Alex had with his own snowball. It splattered across the front of her jacket on impact and she jumped up in surprise.

"Jackson!" She squealed in protest.

"He started it." He said with a pointed finger at Karev.

"So then throw it back at him! Not me!" She retorted with wide eyes.

While Jackson busied himself with preparing another snowball, Alex had already gotten a second one going and he threw it at April. She quickly gathered up some of the snow that she had scooped onto the ground and threw it back at Jackson in revenge. She hit him on the back of the shoulder as he tried to squat down and use the front of the vehicle as some cover from the flying snow.

A solid explosion of snow occurred as a snowball from April flew at Alex and hit him in the side of the head, squealing out at her poor aim – she had been going for his chest, not quite so brutal enough to aim directly for his head. Yet she laughed instead of shying away from the mistake.

"Geez, Kepner," he swore. "Who knew you were so vicious?"

"She's secret about that kind of thing," Jackson commented, chucking another snowball in April's direction.

"I'm not!" April cried out in protest, blindly throwing another one as she opened up the door of Karev's car to use it as a shield. "Don't turn on me! Alex started this!" At least that defense was genuine.

"Hey, don't get it inside of my car!" Alex complained. "I've got to get to work!"

"Yeah, convenient that now you're suddenly eager to get to work," Jackson commented but he held up both of his hands in a mock surrender. "But go on, get out of here, before April decides to go completely psycho with the snowballs."

April held up her hands, stepping out from behind the car door and bumping it with her hip to shut it. "Fine, I'm not fighting anymore." A breathless smiled was wide across her lips, a childish sparkle in her eyes that was a rare sight. She was the type who always took things so seriously, especially at work, and often around the house as she was the reason that it remained as clean as it did. Even Alex could admit that it was nice to see her loosened up – but Jackson was the one who found the beauty in seeing that easygoing smile on her lips, her shoulders lose from the usual tension that they held.

Both April and Jackson moved out of the way now that the snow was no longer an issue with the car. Alex got in the driver's seat, making a face at the both of them and giving a small wave before he backed out of his parking space and slowly drove out of the lot.

"He's such a kid sometimes," Jackson remarked, knocking some snow off his gloves.

Without making another remark, April bent down to grab some more snow and form another ball in her hands before tossing it at him. It's not a hard throw but it managed to hit him square in the chest, catching him off guard. She let out a loud laugh as she watched his face, all her teeth showing with the musical noise escaping her.

"Seriously?" He looked at her, his light eyes wide. "What happened to not fighting anymore?"

"Seriously!" Another giggle escaped from the redhead and she gave a faux-innocent shrug.

"Oh, you're so going to pay for that one." He bent down just as quickly and took shelter behind a neighboring car to begin making his own snowballs to throw back at her.

The same smile that he had admired on her features was now resting across his own, a gleeful expression that he hadn't given a lot of since his own childhood. But now, both of them were free from all of the worries that came with her daily lives and just living in the moment, chucking snowballs back and forth at one another and desperately hiding behind their neighbor's car to try and avoid getting smacked in the face with one.

Even though there were a hundred other things that the two of them could have been doing that morning, like getting started on the piles of laundry that had built up in the past couple of weeks from the lack of time to wash anything other than what was necessary for work, or to clean the kitchen like April had insisted many times that they needed to do – they don't. Both of them spent another fifteen minutes outside in the freezing temperatures, not at all bothered by the cold with the only exception being when the snow would hit either one of them in the face.

"Alright, alright!" Jackson called out with both of his hands held up in the air again. "White flag! Truce!"

"Do you mean it?" She yelled back, eyes and top of her head peering up from behind the truck she used as a shield. "Or are you just saying that so I'll come out and you can get me good?" She was dedicated to the game, certainly. It didn't take much for her to go wholeheartedly into anything, even something that was much more childish than her usual daily routine.

Not a terrible idea, though it hadn't been his plan. He can't help but pause before answering.

"I mean it!" He answered honestly. "You've got me too many times. I'm cold and tired."

Taking his word for it, she straightened up and shook some of the snow off of her frame. "Okay." She agreed with a nod of her head. A few little clumps of snow remained stuck in her red hair, beginning to melt. "As long as you mean it."

"I do." He reaffirmed. "Seriously, you took it out of me."

"So are you saying that I win?" The competitive side of her came out way too easily, unable to help herself. She liked to win no matter what the circumstances were, even something as silly as this.

"You win," Jackson announced clearly with a chuckle leaving his lips, giving a nod of his head to confirm.

"Hah!" She shouted loudly, both of her arms thrust straight up in the air victoriously as she did a little dance where anyone could see. Fortunately, most of their neighbors had either already left for work or were too busy trying to figure out what to do with all of the snow to pay attention to all of the noise outside. For her sake, that was a good thing. "I win!"

"Does that mean we can go inside now?" Even as a declared loser, Jackson was still smiling as he watched her dance around with excitement. Her energy was infectious. "'Cause I need a shower so I don't freeze to death. Who knows how much snow you got under my jacket…" he grumbled.

"Sure," April agreed with an easy chuckle, her smile never faltering. "Let's go in, loser."


	14. Movie Marathon

A Charlie Brown Christmas movie was now on its second run through on the television in the Kepner-Avery living room after underestimating how long it would take Harriet to fall asleep.

During the first run through, she had been completely enamored by the blues of Charlie Brown and his sad little Christmas tree, making note of the fact that it was nothing like the large and overdecorated tree that they had in their own living room. It had warmed both Jackson and April's hearts when she had suggested that they give theirs to Charlie Brown, just because they could go get another one. It was nice to know that they were raising their little girl to be kind and generous, just like both of them wanted to.

But halfway through the second playing on the movie, Harriet was curled up perfectly between her mother and father, her head on her mother's stomach and legs stretched out across her father's lap. She wanted to use both of them as a pillow and had succeeded in that quite easily. Neither one of them had the heart to move her, even after she had fallen asleep.

"Don't you think we should get up and put her in her bed?" Jackson questioned, his voice a hushed whisper as he looked over at his wife. "I think our little movie marathon wore her out."

"How can we?" A little pout formed on her lips. "She's just adorable like this. And she's a warm little blanket."

"Yeah, she is warm." He agreed with a nod of her head. His arm wrapped around April's shoulders, one hand on his daughter's back and his thumb soothing little circles habitually. "I don't want her to be grumpy in the morning."

"My stomach is a much better pillow than yours." April resisted a laugh to keep still. "She's plenty comfy."

"Your stomach is perfect the way it is." A quick compliment was thrown in, soft eyes looking over at her. "But, if we're going to keep her there, can we at least put on a different movie? I didn't mind it the first time but the second time? It's gonna put me out. You'll have to drag both of us to bed on your own." He teased.

"No, I wouldn't do that. I would just stay here and fall asleep with you two." She grinned. "But yes, we can change it. Put it on whatever you want as long as it's not football."

Carefully reaching for the remote so that he didn't shift Harriet around too much, he turned on the guide and began flipping through the different programs that were playing that evening. Late in the year, there weren't many new episodes of anything coming on until after the holiday season was over. It took him a moment of looking through what was on before he flipped down to the movie channels to find something else, clicking his tongue in his mouth as both pairs of open eyes read through the channel selections.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to put on one of those Hallmark channel Christmas movies."

"No way." Jackson chuckled slightly with a shake of his head. "If we're going to watch another Christmas movie, then it's at least going to be some kind of classic. I know you think some of them are cute, but come on, you can at least admit most of them are pretty boring."

"Some of them are cute." April echoed that part with a raise of her brows. "What's your definition of a classic Christmas movie? And don't you dare say Die Hard. I don't want that infecting Hattie's dreams.

"Die Hard is a classic Christmas movie, but it is not the only classic." A wide grin settled on his features. "I'm partial to Home Alone, but I don't see it playing anywhere. Never liked Gremlins or The Polar Express. How about A Christmas Story?" He suggested.

"Oh, I do like that one." She smiled. "Let's watch it."

Selecting the movie, he set down the remote on the arm of the couch. "She's probably old enough for this one."

"Yeah," April agreed with a nod. "I could do without the gun obsession but I'm not worried about that with her."

"White kid in the 80s. It's pretty accurate." He shrugged one shoulder.

A small shift of her hips was given in order to sink back into the couch a little further than before, though April did so slowly in order to keep Harriet asleep. The tired three year old didn't move or stir from the movement and she smiled, her gaze on her daughter more than it was on the television screen. Sure, it was a Christmas classic and one that she particularly enjoyed. But nothing would ever manage to entrance her in the same way that her daughter's soft features, a perfect mixture of mother and father, always managed to do.

"Oh, it looks like they're doing a little marathon of Christmas movies," Jackson observed as he took another look at the guide on the television. "Miracle on 34th Street is playing after this one."

"You know I love that movie!" April piped up. "We're going to have to stick around and watch it."

"Whatever you want, babe," he looked over at his wife, caught up in staring at her beauty for a few long seconds. Even though he had been with her for the better part of the last ten years of her life, her natural beauty and glow never failed to catch him off guard. She was truly an extraordinary makeup, even in simple moments like these, curled up on the couch with their daughter and her face entirely bare of makeup.

"How about we put Harriet to bed at the end of this movie, while the credits are playing, then we open up one of those bottles of Christmas wine together?" She suggested with a smile curling up on the curves of her lips, a little glint of excitement shining inside of her hazel hues.

They stick to the plan as prescribed.

Come the end of the movie at ten o'clock, Jackson slowly got up without waking up Harriet before he picked her up off of her mother's laps and took her down to her nursery. The little girl barely woke up upon being disturbed, looking at her father with sleepy blue eyes before using his shoulder as her new pillow. She didn't put up any fuss as he laid her down, turning on the night light for her and turning off the lights in her room.

When he returned to the living room, there were two glasses filled with red wine on top of coasters on the living room table. April was sitting on the couch cross-legged and waiting for him, having paused at the beginning of the black and white film.

"Thanks for keeping it paused for me," Jackson said as he sat down on the couch, picking up his wine and taking a sip.

"Of course," she smiled brightly before pressing play.

This time, Jackson became a pillow for April as she curled up around her husband. His arm went to its rightful place wrapped around her shoulders and hugging her in just a little closer to him. His nose nuzzled through the soft locks of red hair on top of her head, getting a deep whiff of her shampoo and the sweet, fruity smell that came from her.

"You smell good." He commented, a finger twirling through one of the waves of her hair. It was soft as always.

"So do you." April inhaled deeply after speaking, her eyes shutting for a moment and leaning further into him. "You always do. I got you more of that cologne that I like for Christmas."

"Is that your first glass of wine?" He teased with a raise of his eyebrows. "Because you never talk about Christmas gifts until Christmas morning. I don't think I've ever known what you got me before the day itself." A light chuckle shook his chest.

"Yes, it is." She laughed. "Obviously it's not the only thing that I got you, you big dummy."

"Figures," he grinned. "Do you want to hear one of the things that I got you? Make it even?"

Her head shook firmly. "No way!" She answered. "You know that I love the surprise. Just as much as I love the anticipation. Gosh, you know how much I love Christmas. I mean, look at the house that we're currently sitting inside of. If that doesn't scream someone who loves Christmas, then I don't know what does." She reached for her glass of wine once she was finished speaking, taking a sip from it.

"I know you love Christmas." Jackson kissed the top of her head once he was settled back against her. "You love it more than anyone else that I know. Except I'm pretty sure that a few years from now, you're going to have some serious competition for who loves Christmas the most."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows shot up, looking away from the movie and at him. "Who?"

"Harriet, obviously." He laughed. "She's learning from the best."

Plump lips pursed together thoughtfully as hazel hues turned back toward the television again, giving a small nod of her head after thinking about it for a few moments. "Yeah, you're probably right." April agreed. "But that means that our house is only going to become even more epic with each Christmas that comes in the next few years. Oh, gosh, as much as I don't want her to grow up, that's going to be so much fun." A huge grin was now blown across her features as she considered the future between the three of them.

Maybe their little girl growing up wasn't the absolute worst thing in the world, though both of them were capable and guilty of blowing things a little out of proportion when it came to thinking about Harriet growing up. She was growing so fast every single day, it seemed like almost constantly some shoes or outfit no longer fit her. It was hard to keep up with.

"Well, it will be, but I like how small she is right now." Jackson commented with a fond smile. "Just think, five or ten years from now, her falling asleep on our lap like that is going to be more uncomfortable than it is cute."

"Oh, hush," April elbowed her husband playfully and shook her head. "No, it won't. She'll always be our tiny little angel."

"Yeah, you're probably right." The smile never faltered across his features.

"I know that I am."


	15. Breakfast Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just a little clarity of the timeline since there's no Alex or Harriet in this chapter – this particular drabble is set in season 11 before any bad news comes into their lives.

"Sweetheart…"

His voice was gentle to avoid startling his sleeping wife awake, one hand placed on her shoulder and rubbing his thumb across her shoulder. It was the weekend and neither one of them needed to go to work. Jackson planned on taking full advantage of the opportunity. Even married and living together, it felt as if they didn't have enough time together. He wanted every moment around her.

A little noise escaped the redhead's lips and she rolled over in the opposite direction, burying her face into the pillow. Normally, April was a morning person. But now that they were expecting, more and more time in bed just seemed all too tempting. All of her energy was spent at work. By the time that she was home, bed was the best possible thing. She was so happy to be expecting. All that April had ever wanted was to start a family with him and now, it was finally happening. This time next year, they would have a baby of their own to spend the holidays with. As happy as she was, that didn't change the fact that being pregnant was absolutely exhausting. Nothing got around that.

"I've got breakfast ready for you already," Jackson tempted her. "Orange juice and a cup of coffee. The creamer is already in there, just waiting for you on the kitchen table..." His voice was a little sing-song, urging her up.

"Mmm," April blinked a few times and left out a loud yawn. "Well, I guess since you've already got my coffee ready."

His hands reached for hers and he helped her out of bed. The bump was big enough for him to see and admire, to kiss and talk to every night once she had fallen asleep. She was finally beginning to really peak out of her scrubs with the bump, bringing attention from passing patients, nurses, and other doctors about her current state of being. Truthfully, he liked the attention that she was getting, and he was well aware that it meant Hunt was keeping an extra eye on her in the E.R. Not as much time at work as spent around one another, so he needed to know someone else was looking out for her.

"I've also got a proper breakfast ready, too." He grinned at his wife, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she stood up.

"Oh?" She questioned, her eyebrows raising up and wrinkling her forehead.

"Mmhm," he hummed with a nod of his head.

Unable to keep his hands off of her, Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She placed her head on his shoulder briefly and straightened back up as they walked into the kitchen. She could smell that something had been cooking and more importantly, she could smell the cup of coffee that he prepared for her. She could see a mug sitting on her usual place at the kitchen table next to a clear glass of orange juice.

"What have you got going on in here?" April questioned as she looked at the table. She could see a pile of small pancakes stacked on her plate, some fruit, and whipped cream already on it. Her suspicions were confirmed further by the tub of butter and bottle of syrup sitting out on the table.

"I decided that we were going to have a little breakfast date this weekend." He answered with a smile. "But I knew that there was no way I was going to get you out of bed and actually to go somewhere. So, I thought I would bring the breakfast date to you."

"You made this?" A smile softened the curves of her lips as she looked at her husband.

"I did." He confirmed with a nod of her head.

Her hazel eyes twinkled with adoration as she looked at her husband, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze before she let go to walk around the table and get a better look at what he had set up on the plate. The pancakes were mini ones as she had suspected, and there were either chocolate chips or blueberries in them – she couldn't tell from just looking at the pancakes. But based on the rest of it, it had to be chocolate chips. Strawberries were above the pancakes in a little triangle with a dab of whip cream at the top. There was more whip cream on the plate and beneath the pancakes to make a beard and a smile, eyes made out of chocolate chips. They were Santa Claus pancakes. He had made her Santa pancakes.

"Oh, Jackson..." The smile on her lips was bright. This looked like something straight from a Pinterest or a restaurant, not something at home. Let alone not something that he had made. As much as she loved her husband, she knew that he was not the most culinary inclined. He was perfect at ordering from restaurants and finding the perfect place to go out to eat. But cooking at the house was either her running the kitchen, or sticking to the basics. "These are perfect."

"I thought that you might like them." He pulled out the chair for his wife so that she could sit down, smoothing out her frizzy hair. "Go on, eat. Is there anything else that you need?" He asked.

"No," she shook her head. "These are so perfect. You are so, so amazing. I love you so much."

"I know." Jackson chuckled and he bent down, pressing a kiss on the top of her head before he moved back to the other end of the kitchen so that he could make a plate of pancakes for himself. He didn't go through quite as much effort for making his own plate with making a Santa, but he did through on some fruit and whipped cream on his own plate. Knowing that his kid was going to be here in a few months was a solid reminder that he needed to eat healthy, too. Not soon enough, there would be a kid to keep up with. They would both need all of the energy that they could.

Putting on a little butter before pouring on the syrup, April picked up her fork and quickly began to cut into her pancakes, letting out a dramatic moan after taking her first bite. "These are delicious. God, I'm so glad I married you."

"And here I thought it was just because I was a rich, handsome surgeon. Who knew I could do breakfast too?" He teased.

"You're so ridiculous." Easy laughter followed through her lips.

"Only for you." Jackson smiled across the table from her as he sat down, pouring syrup across his own pancakes.

"Thanks for waking me up." April's eyes flickered from her husband over to the time on the clock. "Even if it is... almost ten A.M. which is way later than you're supposed to let me sleep, even if it is the weekend." She rolled her eyes even though no joy was lost from her expression.

"You're growing our baby." He gave an easy shrug of our shoulders. "You need all of the sleep that you're going to get. It's a lot of work, growing a mini-me. I may not be pregnant but I'm pretty certain of that much."

The smile only deepened across her expression. "You're going to be such a good Daddy, Jackson. You already are."


	16. Blizzard

"Jackson!"

Through the layers of the zipped up coat and the scarf wrapped around her neck, the sound of her attempting to call out her roommate's name. All of the clothing that April was bundled up in muffled the sound of her voice, most of her face invisible behind all of the layers she had on, just her eyes and brow managing to peak through.

Even though Seattle got cold, much of the climate was moderated by the fact that it was so close to the ocean. Most of their major storms had to do with thunder and rain, maybe the occasional windstorm, but blizzards like this were rather rare. Snow happened, of course, but this was a new extreme that she hadn't dealt with since she had moved to the city. It had begun snowing lightly that morning and quickly, the conditions had gotten worse and worse throughout the day. By the time that they had gotten done with their work for the day, driving home had been a danger. Everyone else on the roads was driving as slow as they could without entirely pissing off the driver behind them.

With her arms wrapped tightly around her frame, she bounced on her toes, hoping that the movement would keep her warm. It doesn't, of course. There was only so much one could do to fight a blizzard.

"Can you please hurry up and get aside?" She didn't have to stand out there and wait for him, yet felt obligated to do so. She was just that kind of soft heart. "It's freezing out here!" She shook her head as a snowflake hit her nose.

"Well aware," he grumbled, not loud enough to be heard. "I'm coming!"

Of course, unprepared and like fools, a necessary and impromptu trip to the grocery store had been necessary on the way home from work. Neither one of them had time before the storm came in to try and pack up, and Alex… well, he just hadn't. He was staying with Meredith a few days after not getting tires equipped for the snow and ice. It was just the two of them stuck inside of their apartment while the storm rolled through.

With three plastic sacks of groceries in each hand, while April had been tasked with carrying the twenty-four pack of water bottles, Jackson began to slowly make his way across the parking lot. He only managed a few steps before the ice gets the best of him and he slips, falling onto his ass.

"Oh!" April cried out.

"Shit," Jackson swore.

His ass hit the ground before the bags of groceries did. April quickly set down the water on the ground and moved back across the parking lot. She nearly slipped herself in the process, grabbing onto a car to keep herself from hitting the ground.

"Are you okay?" She asked, kneeling down next to him with her gloves on the ice.

"Yeah," he nodded his head, sitting back up properly and looking at the groceries. "Yeah, I'm fine. I don't think that the eggs are, though." The carton had come out of the sack and liquid coming from the carton made it clear the eggs had broken.

"It's fine," she shook her head and brushed it off, beginning to gather up some of the other items that had slipped out of their respective sacks. "Eggs aren't that good anyway."

"Alright." Jackson rolled his eyes.

"Here." April straightened up first and held onto the nearest car for support before extending her hand out to Jackson. "I'll help you up. Come on, just take my hand."

His eyebrows rose skeptically at his offer but Jackson wasn't interested in falling and bruising himself on the ice any further. Once was more than enough, especially with an audience. Giving a slight nod of his head, he reached out and grabbed her gloved hand, using his other to try and steady himself on the ground. With April's assistance, he got back up on both of his feet again without falling down for a second time.

"There you go." The redhead smiled brightly. "I'll help you with the groceries."

"What about the water?" He asked.

She glanced back at it, lips pursed. "To be honest, it's slippery enough that we could probably just toe it on along the ice." An easy laugh fell from her lips.

"Yeah, pretty sure that's just going to result in falling again." Jackson pointed out the obvious.

"Well, I'll take a light sack or two and I can carry both. The water isn't heavy, it was just a little bulky." She suggested. Her hands sited through the sacks to pick the lightest two out of the six, holding them up on her arms in the bend of the elbow so she would still be able to have her hands-free.

With a little bit of teamwork, the two of them managed to get themselves and all of their groceries inside without any more mayhem or bruises being caused. The inside of their apartment was freezing compared to its usual temperature. Power or the heating having trouble, admittedly, wasn't the most surprising thing. Even if it was a relatively nice apartment for what they paid with its hardwood floors and an in-unit washer and dryer, it was still just a little aged and the building as a whole was occasionally more outdated than any of them would have liked. But for now, it was still their little home.

"Any chance that the heat is still working?" April questioned as she began to unpack the groceries that hadn't been broken in Jackson's fall, putting them up in the pantry and refrigerator.

"Not right now," he answered with a shrug. "Want to break out the hot chocolate now or later?"

"Now." She answered without hesitation. "It's freezing."

Once the groceries were put up, Jackson started with heating up some milk for two mugs of it. April disappeared down the hallway for a moment, stripping out of her outdoor winter wear and grabbing a few of the extra blankets that she had in her room. She draped two across the back of the couch and kept one around her shoulders as if it were some kind of cape.

"Hopefully, it won't get any colder than this." Her toes wiggled inside of her fuzzy socks. "But at least we don't have to listen to Karev complaining about the temperature." She offered cheerily.

"Yeah, there's a plus," Jackson chuckled in agreement, finishing up with the hot chocolate. "Here." He handed her mug her to her and she took it quickly with both hands, feeling them warm up.

"You want to sit?" April tilted her head toward the living room.

"Sure." He agreed with a nod of his head. "I see you got out all of your blankets."

"You make fun of me for them and all of the pillows, but I'm just saying, when it's this cold outside and the heat isn't working, we would be idiots not to have them." A knowing smirk curled at the corners of her lips, unable to hide the smug expression. "I'm snug as a bug in a rug." The goofy idiom left her lips without any embarrassment.

The couch sank beneath them as they sat down. Most of the time, April would sit on the opposite end of the couch from him, maybe stretching out her legs if she was feeling a little confident but usually keeping them curled beneath her. This time, she goes against her normal behavior. As he sat down on one end of the couch, she sat down in the middle of the three cushions, curling up her legs so they were right up against his.

Body warmth could have been a great excuse, but she doesn't bother trying it.

"How long do you think the heat is going to be out?" She grabbed one of the blankets from the back of the couch, fanning it out and letting it fall over him primarily, just the edge of it over her knees.

"Who knows?" Jackson's shoulders shrugged. "Hopefully, not long. But right now, this isn't so bad." He smiled over at April, something indiscernible in his eyes as he stared at her.

"Yeah." April smiled back at him. "Yeah, you're right."


	17. Fort

"Don't you think that this is a little much?" Jackson questioned, his brow forming a deep furrow.

"No, not at all," April answered with an easy shrug following. She wasn't concerned about all of the blankets and pillows were currently strewn across their living room in order to capture the dream that she had come up with, one that she was more than certain would absolutely thrill their daughter. Harriet had seen it on television and wanted to have one herself, and it was one of those little things that were harmless. It was so difficult to tell their daughter no when she asked for something so simple and so much fun. She had gone through with the idea almost immediately upon putting their little girl down for an afternoon nap, wanting to surprise her when she woke up.

The back of the couch and the top of the television were the main anchors for the light beige blanket that had been strewn across the two as a cover for the blanket fort that she had begun constructing. The coffee table had been moved out of the way for more floor space, covered in another blanket and some of the throw pillows moved onto the ground to make it a more comfortable sitting area.

"Help me move this chair in more?" She requested with a raise of her eyebrows. "I need this blanket to reach."

"Closer to the television or the couch?" Jackson asked as he moved behind it.

"The television."

He gave a nod of his head and moved it, waiting until the clear approval was on her face before he settled with its placement. As she fanned out another blanket across the open space of their living room, he grabbed onto the opposite end and helped position it over the chair that he had just moved. He knew that she had always collected up blankets easily, but even he hadn't realized quite how many she had managed to keep track of.

"I think it looks pretty snazzy, don't you?" April questioned proudly as she placed her hands on her hips, looking around at the handiwork. The blankets were a little mismatched but they formed a good cover between the living room furniture, a bit of an open flap left for getting in and out on one side.

"It looks good." He agreed. "Harriet's going to love it." A smile softened his expression. There was nothing quite as satisfying as seeing the smile that lit up his daughter's face whenever she was consumed with joy. It looked so much like her mother's smile.

"She is." She echoed with that same smile. "Oh! I have one more idea. You're going to have to help me with this one."

"What is it?" Jackson asked.

"One second." She held a finger before running down the hallway toward one of the closets where the overflow decorations were.

It took a little bit of shuffling around inside of the closet for her to find that she wanted, but when she returned to the living room, there was a tangle of extra white lights in her arms. This was something that she had seen plenty of times on Pinterest. She had never had the chance to actually do it for herself but now seemed like the perfect time.

"On the inside." Her head nodded around the fort. "I need to figure out how to pin them up on the inside."

"Huh." Jackson clucked his tongue, squatting down by the entrance of the fort to look around. He chewed at the inside of his lips for a brief moment, trying to figure out the best way to go about getting them up there. He'd dealt with a blanket fort or two in his life, mostly when he was a kid, but there had never been anything as fancy as that involved with his. "What about those things you put in your hair? The little clips? Do you think we could pin them in like that?"

"Oh! Bobby pins. Yes, that's perfect." April nodded her head. "Will you start untangling these a bit? I'll go grab some."

As he took the lights from her carefully so as to not tangle them any further, he sat down on the floor and began to untangle the lines. It wasn't too much of a mess to work through fortunately, April was always pretty insistent about keeping things together. By the time that she had returned with her pan of bobby pins in hand, he had all but one of the knots completely undone.

"Do you know how you want to lay them out?" He questioned when she returned.

"Yeah, I think so," she answered. "Just along the exterior and if there's enough length in there, I think it'd be cute to do a string or two diagonally across the middle. Bring a little more light to all of it."

Lifting up the flaps to the entrance of the fort, both of them got down on their hands and knees in order to begin stringing the lights along the edges of the fort. There was enough length there to do exactly what April wanted to, more than she had realized its a bit of extra hanging down the side. It looked fine as it was, nothing that was going to bother her. She pinned it up along the side just so there was no worry with Harriet about grabbing it and pulling anything loose down. She probably wouldn't, but there was always a chance. Three year olds, no matter how well-behaved they might have been most of the time, were still unpredictable at their core.

"This looks perfect." April declared with a bright smile as she sat down in the middle of it, looking around.

"It does," Jackson watched his wife. "Looks like something you'd seen on Pinterest."

"I'm going to take a picture of it before I get Harriet up." She decided, sneaking out to get her phone before crawling back in to take a picture. "And no, I'm not going to post it on Pinterest. But it might go up on Instagram." She laughed.

"Do you want me to go get her?" He asked, his brow raised.

She shook her head quickly, eyes widening. "No, no way. I'm totally taking credit for this one. Will you get her a juice box and sit in here, though? Make the surprise a little extra?" She wiggled her brow.

"Sure." An easy laugh left his lips as he agreed, following her out of the fort.

Harriet woke up with just a little bit of fuss as her mother got her out of the nursery. It took her a moment to come around with a few blinks of her big, sleepy eyes and some gentle raspberries blown across her stomach that leaves her giggling from the ticklish sensation.

Of course, that was nothing compared to the excited scream she let out when she saw the fort.

"A fowt! A fowt!" With her little teeth and growing vocabulary skills, Harriet still hadn't quite nailed the sound of an r. Yet screaming in excitement at that moment, the lisp only made it even cuter.

"Just like you said you wanted." A huge smile was resting on April's features as she watched her daughter. Harriet jumped up and down with excitement, looking at the fort and the lights that glowed inside of it, then looking back and forth between her parents. "Do you like it?" She couldn't resist asking even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes!" Harriet shouted, her little arms stretching up in the world for only a moment before she crawled inside.

"I think you nailed it, Mommy," Jackson commented as he stepped over toward his wife and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her in closer with a little snuggle. "Good job."

April turned toward him, stretching up on her toes and giving a kiss. "Thanks for the help, Daddy."

"Aren't you going to get in there and join her?" He asked with a raise of his brow.

"Of course," she chuckled.

Getting down on her hands and knees, April crawled inside of the fort to join her daughter. Harriet was enamored with the addition of the string lights throughout the blanket fort, sitting in the middle and looking around with wide eyes. The reflection of the white lights in her light hues seemed to make them sparkle even more than they naturally did. A moment after April had gotten settled inside of the fort, Jackson crawled in right behind her to join his two favorite girls. He moved in closer to his wife, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her onto his lap, kissing the shell of her ear.

"Watch a movie?" Harriet requested as politely as she could, a little finger pointed at the big television that her mother had put inside of the fort for that exact reason. April gave a knowing smile.

"Yes, ladybug," Jackson answered. "We can watch whatever movie you want." He smiled.

"Moana!" The request was a predictable one. All three of them knew just about every song from the soundtrack given how many times it had been watched.

"Come here, ladybug." April reached toward her daughter and made little grabby hands. Harriet crawled over toward her on command as April slid off her husband's lap, taking place on her mother's lap quickly. "Come be my cuddle bug and we'll watch Moana."

Harriet looked up at her mother with big eyes. "Thank you, Momma."

"You're welcome," she kissed the top of her daughter's heard. "I love you, baby girl."


	18. Grinch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Throwing it WAY back with the timeline in this one. Enjoy a little bit of baby Japril before the hospital merger.

Christmas had always been April's favorite holiday to celebrate since she was a little girl. It was the one that she spent the entire year looking forward to, more so than her birthday or anything else celebratory. It was the perfect mixture of getting to celebrate the religion that she had spent her entire life devoted to and getting to celebrate the people that she loved most. Even if the holiday was a little harder when she was halfway across the country from her family and couldn't take the time off work to go be with them, she still loved the holiday dearly. Nothing was capable of changing or taking that away from her.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jackson only celebrated the holiday because of the way that Christmas had taken over with the capitalistic aspect. He'd been spoiled as a kid to compensate for all of the time that his mother was working, but she'd almost always taken of the day of Christmas itself to celebrate with him and his grandfather. Now that he was an adult, he recognized and celebrated it, but remained otherwise apathetic to the day itself. He was a low-level Grinch.

Even if they didn't know each other that well as two first year residents at Mercy West Hospital, that wasn't going to stop April from trying to turn thing around. They were in the same friend group – them, Reed, and Charles. That was enough for her.

"Hey." A bright smile filled the canvas of her face. "What are you doing tonight?" She asked.

"Uh, nothing." Jackson shrugged one shoulder. "Probably watching whatever game is on." He hadn't planned that far ahead.

"Well, do you want something to do tonight?" Her eyebrows rose with the next question.

He blinked in surprise, unable to ignore the double entendre in her words though he was certain April didn't actually mean it. She was way too innocent for something like that, especially so boldly and openly in the hospital. "I guess that depends on what it is…" He said slowly.

"Reed and I are throwing a little Christmas party tonight. Charles is coming." Or at least, since Reed was tasked with asking him and she was almost positive he had a crush on her, she was pretty sure that he was. "Why don't you come over too? There'll be beer."

"You're serious?" This time, his eyebrows rose. Even though it was a normal thing to do this time of year, he had just assumed they were all too busy with being residents to really do anything.

"Uh-huh." She kept the smile on her lips as she nodded her head, tucking her hands into her pockets.

"I don't know if Christmas parties are really my thing." He admitted and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, there's no harm in trying." The most convincing smile that she had rested on her lips. "It'll be fun. There will be food and beer. What else could you really want, anyway?" She knew her target audience. Hopefully, that was just about all it would take for her to be able to convince him. He and Charles seemed to be pretty similar most of the time, and she had gotten to know Charles well enough through Reed. It was so obvious both of them liked each other, even if they hadn't made any moves toward one another.

Jackson's weight shifted between his feet. "Why are you inviting me to this thing, huh? I mean I know that Reed and Charles have a thing that they don't want to admit to, but… I don't know."

"It might make Charles a little more comfortable." April offered up the excuse quickly, well prepared. "And if it'll make you more comfortable, I can take down some of the mistletoe that may or may not be hanging around the apartment. But not all of it, just most of it." An easy laugh fell from her lips as she relaxed.

"Mistletoe? Really?" He let out of his own chuckle. "I can't believe you guys really put that stuff up."

"I love Christmas," she justified with an easy shrug of her shoulders. "You kind of seem like you're a little bit of a modern Grinch, you know that? Most people find mistletoe to be very endearing. As long as they're not awkwardly caught under it, at least."

"I'm not a Grinch," Jackson replied defensively.

"Well, you act like it." A teasing smile remained curled upon her lips as she looked up at him.

His light eyes rolled. "I don't. You just love Christmas more than any other person I know."

"I do love Christmas," she agreed with a nod of her head. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're being a total grump about the holiday. People love Christmas parties. Most normal people do, at least." Every word that left her lips sounded as if it were entirely factual. To her, it might as well have been. There were a few things that she was rather set in her way about and the Christmas season just happened to be one of them.

"You sound pretty certain about that." A slight chuckle came out, chewing at the inside of his cheek. "Kind of leaving out Muslims and Jewish people, though. You think that a Christmas party is going to turn me into ol' St. Nicholas?" He questioned.

"Well, I know that you're not either and no. If I wanted to turn you into him, I would drag you to my home in Ohio and make you spend a little time around my family because it is physically impossible for any human being to act like a Grinch after they've spent Christmas with the Kepner family." A loud laugh left April's lips as they stretched into a wide smile, a certain light twinkle finding its way to her hazel hues. "But I think this might be enough just to get you to lighten up a little bit and enjoy the holiday. C'mon, I'll even get some eggnog and whiskey and mix it up together if that's what you want." She offered up the bribe easily.

Jackson's head shook. "Yeah, well, fortunately, there is no way that's going to happen any time soon." From the things that he had heard about her family, they all sounded like her. He didn't mind April in the same way that other people around the hospital might have opposed, but he wasn't sure that he could handle an entire family full of her.

"You're right," she nodded in agreement. "But does that mean I can talk you out of being such a Grinch and talk you into coming to the Christmas party? It'll be fun. I promise!"

"I…" A sigh escaped him, shaking his head before giving in. "Sure. I'll be there." He agreed.

"Yay!" April's hands clasped together with excitement, offering the kind of smile that could have lit up an entire room. "It really will be fun, I promise." She repeated herself. "Eight o'clock. Be there or be square."

"Alright, alright…" Another easy chuckle fell from Jackson's lips as he smiled at her, something that he couldn't name lightening his mood. "I'll be there."


	19. Party

"Can you finish scooping out those bell peppers? I want them to be empty and attractive for holding dip." April requested.

"Uh-huh." There was bemusement across the curve of Jackson's lips as he looked at his wife, chopping off the top of the red and green bell peppers before following her command.

Christmas parties were pretty normal at the hospital. Most of the time, it was held in one of the lounges so that people could come and go throughout their shift for the benefit of free food. But there was one fatal flaw with that plan for many of the doctors and nurses that worked there: no alcohol could be had in that kind of party, or at least, not without getting in trouble. So that was where this kind of parties came in – all of the benefits of good and free food and the added bonus of alcohol. The only hassle was the fact that the Kepner-Avery family happened to be in a gated community which meant it was one annoying obstacle to get to the food and alcohol.

Finishing up with mixing the dip that she was working on, she kept it in a Tupperware container and put it in the fridge to sit. "Those look good," she admired as she peaked at her husband's handiwork.

"Everything looks good." Jackson corrected her, glancing around the kitchen and living room.

As always, April had gone overboard when it came to preparing for the party. Their h home had already been decorating gloriously with Christmas decorations for the past few weeks now, and there hadn't been much that either one of them could have added to that they wanted to. But now, festive food and drinks had filled in all of the gaps. There was a hot chocolate bar with marshmallows and candy cane sticks as well as a pitcher of Christmas sangria, a pull-apart tree in the form of cheesy bread with marinara next to it, a three-tiered tray of cheese, meats, fruits, and crackers, as well as decorated sugar cookies and a huge bowl of Christmas popcorn. A few other various items were scattered across, almost finished but still in need of that last touch that she insisted on. Harriet had helped her mother with some of it, and been an excellent taste tester.

"I wish we could start knocking out that sangria," April commented, bottom lip pulling between her teeth. Hosting had the benefit of not having to drive home, but she was the kind of hostess that wanted to stay sober in order to make sure that everything went swimmingly well. "It tasted so good."

"It did," he agreed with a nod of his head. "And there's no rule saying that you can't have a sip. You know that." His brow raised.

"I know. But I definitely don't want to start before anyone gets here." She shook her head. "I'm a good hostess."

"You are." He stepped toward her, bending down and placing a soft kiss on her lips. "A very good hostess. But I think that you can have one. It's not too strong, I don't think."

"You and I have a very different definition of strong since I had Harriet." April laughed and gave a shake of her head, glancing down at her watch. "Speaking of which, I need to get ladybug dressed and ready for the party. She slept a little longer than I meant to."

"Alright, but I'm pouring you a drink when you come back. She'll have her juice and you'll get your adult juice." Jackson grinned.

With one more shake of her head and a playful glare shot at her husband, April moved down the hallway to get their daughter ready for the party. Even though there was alcohol, there were also plenty of juice boxes and everything else that would be needed for kids. A couple of the kids were old enough that they didn't need to watch all of them too stringently – Tucker, Zola, and Sofia could both be trusted to keep an eye on all of the kids as long as there was an adult to occasionally check in.

By the time that she returned with their adorable daughter in a red dress and tottering along behind her, Callie, Arizona, and Sofia had already arrived. She embraced all three of them eagerly, Harriet looking up at Sofia with big light eyes. They'd met a few times before and got along well.

"Harriet, remember what you asked me earlier. Do you want to show Sofia your new doll?" April asked her daughter with a warm smile, pushing her to interact. On occasion, with other kids, she could take a little bit of time to warm up to them.

"Yeah!" That was all it seemed to take tonight.

"She's growing so much," Callie commented with the kind of grin that could have lit up an entire room. "I remember when Sofia was that small."

"She really is growing," April said with a playful pout pressing onto her lips. Her mouth opened but the doorbell rang and just as she was about to excuse herself to get it, her husband stepped up.

Jackson pushed a glass of sangria over to his wife. "I got it. You guys keep talking." He said before getting the door for Alex and Jo.

"It's crazy how fast they're both growing." Arizona looked between Callie and April. "Are you guys thinking about having more?" She asked, a hint of smile already appearing on the corner of her red lips as her eyebrows perked up. Between the two of them, there was no such thing as minding their own business.

"We haven't really talked about it," April admitted, glancing over at her husband as he greeted Ben and Miranda. "I'd like another. I think that he would, too, we just haven't brought it up lately."

"Not bad genetics to be throwing out into the world," Callie commented supportively.

"Thanks for that." April laughed and took a drink. "Excuse me, I have to be a good hostess. But start snacking so others will." She encouraged.

Putting on a bright smile for everyone else as they came in the door and she helped her husband with greeting them, April made her rounds through the groups of surgeons and other hospital staff that came over to their house. She was so great with kids and made sure that all of them felt welcome to the house and to the food and drinks that were out. All of them pretty much end up with Harriet, none of them wanting to stay with their parents except for Bailey Shepherd, choosing tonight to shy out and stick by his mother's side. Of course, that just meant that he was getting plenty of positive attention from all of the adults around.

With Christmas music playing from the speakers and the living room crowded with all of the adults chattering and drinking, a satisfied smile was on April's lips as she paused in the kitchen to grab a few bites to eat and satisfy the grumbling in her stomach. The party was a clear success. She couldn't have been more pleased with how everything had turned out so well.

"You pulled it off," Jackson commented as he stepped into the kitchen to refill his glass of sangria, deciding on a second one. "Good job."

"Thanks for the assist." She gave a cutesy shrug. "I'm happy. Everyone seems happy."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm pretty sure that Karev ate half of the pull-apart tree by himself. Pretty sure that Jo ate most of the other half, too. Should have seen that one coming." He said with a chuckle.

"I did have one and they were really good." A bright grin followed as she grabbed a carrot.

"Yet you still manage to eat this healthy." He observed, glancing down at the carrot in her hand before beginning to pour himself another drink. "Did you drink the glass that I made you already? Do you want another?"

She shook her head. "I did, but I think one is good for now. Maybe if I eat a little more, I'll drink some more."

"Better keep eating them." He teased her.

"Oh, hush you." April's eyes rolled through the smile on her lips didn't falter. "I'm getting there. I just wanted to make sure that everyone else got food first but I don't think any of them care about anything other than the hot chocolate and the sangria." Which was fine with her – having leftovers would be a nice lunch tomorrow to snack on. All of it would keep well.

"Yeah, I may have set out some peppermint schnapps by the hot chocolate bar," Jackson admitted with a sheepish smile. "I thought it would get a little more attraction from the adults. Only after the kids had gotten theirs, though."

"Well, that's definitely one day to do it." She moved around the island in the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck and stretching up on her toes to kiss him.

His hands fell to the soft curve of her hips, pulling him against her. "You taste good." He remarked.

"The sangria tastes good." A tiny little correction made, her eyes still sparkling.

"You and the sangria, then." He smiled and gave her another little peck.

"Maybe you can get an even better taste later." April tilted her forehead against his with a knowing smirk. A small wink was thrown his way as she pulled away from him and let her arms swing back down by her side, stepping back and watching his wandering eyes. "But for now, we do have a party that we are supposed to be attending."

"Uh-huh." Jackson's tongue ran over his bottom lip. "Are you sure we can't just send them home earlier for a party of our own?"

"Yes, Jackson, I am pretty sure."


	20. Sweaters

"I know that it's a little cliche, but I…" An innocent shrug followed the words as they left April's lips.

"A little?" The question left Jackson with a raise of his thick brow as he inspected the contents of the opened package, laying it out flat in front of him entirely. Even though Christmas was something that he had celebrated secularly for his entire life, he had never gotten into the more capitalistic cliches that came along with the holiday. A tree and ornaments had characterized his household, a wreath on the tree, but it had never been in excess. His mother hadn't had time or desire for that. So something as simple as an ugly Christmas sweater had always managed to slip past his radar.

"Do you hate it?" She asked, a small pout already beginning to form on her bottom lip as it jutted out a little thicker than normal. "It's okay if you do, you can just tell me. I just thought that it might get a smile and a laugh out of you."

Jackson shook his head. "No, not at all." He answered.

"You hate it." Her lips remained pressed together and she let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I can return it and get something else for you."

"No, no," he insisted. "I do like it. It's just not what I expected." A signature charming smile began to climb across his features. "Here, let me try it on. Get a better look at what it looks like."

The grin remained on his lips as he gave a brief glance at the redhead, stepping back so he doesn't accidentally hit her in the face. He pulled on the thick red sweater over the shirt that he had on, slipping his arms into the sleeves easily and down his torso. The little bells attached to the front of the sweated jingled quietly as he adjusted the material. There was a tree on the front of the sweater, actual jingle bells and tacky tinsel that drew even more attention to it. It was definitely the type of thing that you could only wear to an ugly sweater or ironically, intended for that and that alone.

"Wow." A chuckle escaped as he looked down at himself, the smile beginning to become more genuine. "This is… this is really something else. I don't even know what to say."

Her brows rose up and wrinkled together as she stared at him, blinking in surprise at the sudden change. "You like it?"

"This is hilarious." More laughter escaped him, genuine. "This thing is great for a party. There's no way that it won't get attention from people." He pulled at the bottom of it slightly, the tug giving a ring of the colorful jingle bells.

"Yeah." April's face lit up as he began to express joy. "I'm so glad that you like it!" She squealed.

"Did you get Alex the same thing?" Jackson asked about their shared roommate, still a smile resting across his features even if there's some kind of a twinge of jealousy at the idea that she would. Even if they all lived together and got along, he had always felt as if the two of them were best friends, each other's number one before anyone else. Alex had Meredith and Cristina, after all. The bond that the two of them shared was something different, something that went just a little deeper.

She shook her head. "Oh, no, he would hate something like this." She laughed. "I knew it was a risk with you too, but I thought there was at least a chance. I got him a new wallet since his current one is falling apart and I knew it was something that he probably wouldn't ever buy for himself."

"That's smart." He commented with a wave of relief.

"I'm really glad that you like it." April beamed. "I know it's kind of goofy but I always liked the tradition."

"You like all of the holiday traditions," he pointed out, his smile softening. But it was still genuine. "But it doesn't surprise me that you go for this one. It's right up your alley. Do you have one?"

"Not like this one." She shook her head. "But I've got a few ugly ones packed away in my closet."

"You're going to have to break one of them out if I'm going to wear this thing anywhere." He commented. "There's no way that I can go out wearing this thing by myself. You've got to know that."

"Yeah, I know." Her hand covered her mouth with the giggle. "I'm well prepared, I promise."

"I've never doubted that." Amusement shone in his eyes and his hands shifted restlessly, sliding into the back pockets of his jeans as he looked down at her with a crooked smirk. "Besides, you're chief resident. Pretty sure you have to be prepared with everything and that just happens to include having an ugly sweater or two lying around the closet. After all, what else are you going to wear to a work party? It might even bring the E.R. patients a little Christmas cheer if you keep it on under your lab coat."

Her mouth opened up wide as if she was going to laugh, rolling her eyes. "There is no way I'm going to walk around the E.R. in a Christmas sweater." She shook her head. "Those can get expensive, you know! I wouldn't want mine to get ruined with some drunk's vomit or other bodily fluids. I like to reuse mine. I need to keep them in mint condition."

"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses..." Jackson teased with a shake of his head.

"Hush!" she swatted at him. "I'm serious."

"Yeah, well, so am I." The smile returned to his features. "You really are going to have to wear one of them to the work party with me. There's no way that I can go into that thing alone. Deal?" Though his features acted as if it were a completely serious conversation, he held out one hand to her with his pinky sticking out to her.

April stared at the outstretched pinky and had to resist a laugh at how childish it was. Even if it was a little silly, it brought a certain amount of joy to her heart that she couldn't just sit back and ignore.

"Deal."


	21. Solstice

"Apparently, today is the winter solstice," Jackson remarked as he looked at his wife. "I'd forgotten."

April glanced down at the date on her phone. "You're right. It's the 21st," she remarked. "The shortest day and the longest night of the year. Yule. Probably one of the few holidays that my family actually does not participate in some form or fashion, which is weird, since Kepner is a German name and Germanic people traditionally celebrated. But I think that's because by that time in the holiday season when we were young, all of us were done with school and they were overrun with just trying to keep the house in order without having any distractions." A nostalgic smile softened her features.

"Oh yeah?" Thick eyebrows rose as the received the information. "I didn't realize that there was any part of the holiday that the Kepners didn't take full advantage of," he chuckled.

"Please." Her eyes rolled as she spoke. "We're not cooks. Just because you had boring holidays growing up doesn't mean that you have to tease ours." She wasn't offended in the least by his words, though. She was well aware that her family tended to go above and beyond.

"Alright, alright," his hands came up defensively. "Although my holidays were not that boring."

"Mmhm." Disbelief was thick in the tone of her hum. "So what did you do on the winter solstice?"

That was something he didn't have an answer for. One broad shoulder shrugged, hand coming up to scratch the back of his head as leaned further into the couch. "Nothing." No point in trying to lie about it. Any traditions would have already been brought up between the two of them by this point in their relationship. So much of it had been discussed when it came to spending the holiday with his wife and daughter.

"Thought so." April looked just a little too pleased.

"But my holidays were not boring," he threw in defensively. "They were just a little nontraditional. We'd take a trip here and there. Went to Maine a few times since it's close to Boston. D.C., too."

"Do you think about doing something like that now?" She questioned, her head tilting to the side as she looked at him. "Taking some kind of little Christmas vacation with the three of us?"

"Yeah," he answered with a fond smile growing across his expression. "Probably somewhere different though, since that's the opposite side of the country. I don't think Harriet will take to traveling that well just yet." He explained. "But I've thought about things down the coast, or even up to Canada." He looked at her to watch her face.

Her lips drew together though the smile was far from contained. "I like the idea of it," April commented. "Maybe renting out some little cottage down by the beach, somewhere in Oregon or California. The ocean, the sky… undisturbed by all of the light pollution from the city. You could actually see all of the stars at night."

"It's pretty nice." Jackson's fingers interlaced with his wife's and he drew his thumb across the back of her knuckles with mindless patterns. "You would like it a lot. So would Harriet, even if the ocean is way too cold for her to get into. But maybe we could find one with a little hot tub out in the back or something. That would be a fun little solstice tradition, wouldn't it? And it might be a little more manageable to take off than Christmas Eve or Christmas Day."

Shifting across the couch so that she was closer to him, April's head found the space between his neck and his shoulder and she inhaled deeply as she made herself comfortable cuddling her husband. His arm wrapped around her and brought her in closer.

"I like it." She gave a slight nod of her head, placing a hand on top of his.

"If it's the longest night of the year, there's no shame in spending all of it in the hot tub." A smirk grew across Jackson's face as he looked up at her. "I'm sure that we can find something to do once Harriet's in bed."

"Oh, I'm sure that won't be a problem." Musical laughter slipped through her lips. "You always can."

"What can I say?" He chuckled. "There's lots to do for entertainment with you."

"You're dirty." Yet that was just one of the many things that she loved about him. No one that she had ever been in a relationship within the past had managed to make her feel so beautiful and sexy all the time. After the way that she had grown up, it was one of the exact qualities that she needed in a partner.

He caught her chin, pulling it up and placing a firm kiss on her lips. "You just make it so goddamn tempting." He murmured, stealing another kiss from her before pulling back with a smirk.

"No, I think it's all you." April disagreed with another broad smile settling on her lips. "You're such a dirty horndog."

"Only for you."

"Please!" She pushed at his chest playfully with a shake of her head and barely managed to hold back her laughter. "You have been like this since day one."

"Well, how about you just managed to exacerbate it?" Jackson suggested with a teasing smile as he leaned forward and got another kiss from her. This time, he nipped at her lower lip and lingered there, his forehead leaning against hers. There was a lot more that he wanted to do to her even as simple and teasing as their current conversation as, unconcerned with the fact that they were in the middle of the living room on the couch. Harriet was asleep. As long as they weren't too loud, there wasn't a single thing that they needed to worry about. "Because you definitely have something to do with it."

Another laugh slipped through the redhead's lips and she gave a little shake of her head. "You're just going to blame me for everything, aren't you?" She teased. "Little Devil."

"Nothing little about me." He smirked.

"You are awful." April's smile was huge, her front teeth showing.

"You said it's the longest night of the year, huh?" Jackson barely shifted subjects as he pulled away from her slightly, just giving himself the opportunity to look down upon her better. His thick brow had risen as he stared at her intently, something lustful clear in his gaze. "I think that there's definitely a thing or two that we can do to take advantage of all of that extra time."

"Like I said, you are such a dirty horndog."


	22. Baby, It's Cold Outside

"Do we have to do this?"

"Yes."

A smug grin was settled onto the curve of April's lips as she looked up at Jackson, her hands rested on her hips. She looked about twice her normal size with the thick, puffy jacket that she was wearing and the scarf wrapped around her neck, dainty hands covered in black gloves and feet looking much larger in her Uggs.

So close to Christmas, there was no doubt that it was going to be another white one. Snow had already started falling and snow tires were necessary for everyone who had to drive around Seattle now, Jackson and April included. Even if often they drove to work together since they lived together with Alex, each one of their cars had their own set because it was better safe than sorry. Unless it was for the sake of work, neither one of them had too much of an interest in having to get out. More people were on the roads as they did last minute Christmas shopping and that only added to the danger that they presented, not to mention just making it irritating to try and get anything other than basics.

"This seems unnecessary," Jackson commented with a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he put his hand into his own pair of gloves, giving a shake of his head as he glanced up at the redhead.

"There are a lot of holiday traditions in my family that are absolutely unnecessary," she started with a raise of her brows. "But this is not one of them. It's not Christmas or the holiday season until you've built a proper snowman and this is the first day that we've both had off since the snow has actually been good enough to do it. So we're doing it."

There was nothing in their apartment lease or living agreement that said he needed to go with her every whim. Around Christmas, April had a lot of them. But even if he was going to complain about it, he didn't really mind deep down. He liked making her happy and seeing that smile.

"You're going to have to help me with the base of it. It needs to be big enough." April continued.

"You are way too serious about this." Jackson chuckled with a shake of his head as he moved over toward her.

"That's not true. Otherwise, it would be twice as big as what I'm planning."

"I can't tell if that is supposed to be comforting or worrying." His brows wrinkled.

The smile dancing across her lips only grew wider. "Well, it should be comforting," she started. "But that does make me really, really curious about whatever it is that you've got in mind. My snowmen are very traditional, though. Appropriately sized and traditional."

Jackson leaned over with her as she began to roll up the biggest of the traditional three mounds for the snowmen. She doesn't go beyond what he expected from her, a decent sized sphere that reached just above his knees. Next to her, though, it looked pretty big. That just spoke to the fact that she was small underneath the layers of warm clothing that she had on.

"You kind of chose the coldest day of the year to do this. You do know that, right?" Even if he was almost completely covered from head to toe, the freezing temperatures didn't bypass him.

"Eh," she shrugged her shoulders as she patted the ball together, making sure that it was going to stay secure once the weight of the others was placed on top of it. "I mean, it's just like any other day. You're from Boston. This kind of cold shouldn't be so bad for you."

"In Boston, I was smart enough not to spend time outside when I didn't have to." He remarked with a chuckle leaving his lips.

"As I said, this is necessary." April smiled brightly, unaffected by the cold.

"You're ridiculous." There was nothing insulting about the words as they came from him, even in another context or from another person, they might have been. Instead, that same smile remained resting on her lips, entirely unbothered.

Once the bottom ball of the snowman was finished to her heart's content, she instructed Jackson to work on the middle portion of the man while she started with a head. That was the most important part as far as she was concerned, even if the two bases needed to be done right because it was the part that got attention from anybody who happened to see it. Of course, that had just as much to do with the decorations that needed to be put on the snowman as it did having the balls be nicely sized. She had those already picked out in her head, she just needed to run inside and get them.

Patting the head to solidify it with her hands and make sure that it wasn't going to flake off or fall apart, she smiled victoriously to herself before she looked up at Jackson. He was still perfecting the middle piece – it was bigger, of course, so it took a little more time.

"Here's the head," she said as she set it down next to him. "I'm going to run inside and get the rest of what we need."

"Alright."

Jackson gave a brief glance at her as he watched April run back inside of their apartment, shaking off the snow from her clothes as she did so. He smiled. It didn't take him long to finish up the section of the snowman that he was working on it and he got it positioned on top of their base carefully before adding the head on top and stepping back to look at it. It was pretty proportionate. She knew what she was doing.

"Alright, here we go!" April announced cheerfully as she stepped back outside with the necessary additions for their snowman. "Oh, it looks so good!"

"It does," he agreed with a nod of her head.

"I'm so happy." She did a little happy dance. "Okay, I have everything that we need except for some twig arms. Do you think you can find those? I figure there has to be some on the parking lot by the trees since that's actually been plowed through."

"Yeah, sure." He'd forgotten about that. "I can go find something that'll work. I'll be right back." He promised.

As he went off to find the perfect arms for their snowman, April tasked herself with decorating the rest of it. She had two big buttons for eyes and a crooked carrot for the nose, a handful of coffee beans pressed together to make a big smile. A top hat went onto the snowman and a black scarf was wrapped around him before she placed three more buttons on the front of the middle portion. It was everything necessary for a perfect snowman. She stepped back to look at it with her hands resting on her hips, a broad smile on her face showing all of her teeth.

It took a few minutes for Jackson to find some twigs that he thought would be good and meet April's expectations for the snowman, grabbing an extra one just in case before trekking back over toward the front of the building where they had set up with making their snowman. He could see that she had gotten everything that remained done while he had been hunting for arms.

"It looks great," he complimented as he approached. "I got some arms for it. They're about the same size. They're kind of skinny, though, I wasn't sure if that would be a good or bad thing..."

"They're perfect!" April quickly brushed away his worries. "Okay, okay. Let's stick 'em in and see what he looks like."

Following her lead, Jackson grabbed one arm and she grabbed the other. He watched her carefully as she stuck in the first arm, making sure to line up with her so it didn't end up completely crooked before he put in the second arm. Once the snowman was finally done the way that she wanted it to be, both of them stepped back a little and stood side by side as they admired their craftsmanship.

"I like it." Surprisingly, Jackson spoke first, breaking away his stare to look down at her.

"So do I," she agreed. "I think it looks perfect. The kids on the floor below us are going to love it too, I bet."

"Definitely," he nodded. "It looks fantastic. A very professional snowman." A slight chuckle escaped after his words.

"And you definitely enjoyed yourself, even if you're not going to admit it to me." A smug smile settled on her lips as she glanced up at him to find him already staring down at her. "Which means that I definitely won, like it or not."

Blue eyes rolled even though he kept smiling. "Sure thing, Apes. Whatever you say." Even though he knew that she was right, it was just a little easier to give her a teasingly hard time about it than open up quite so easily. Truth be told, although he wasn't always ready to admit it to himself, let alone her – he enjoyed all of the time that they spent together. No matter what was going on, she had an uplifting way of looking at things and making the best of every situation. It was something that he had never had a lot of in his life. But he enjoyed it now more than ever.

"You really like it." For once, she was the one who was being openly confident between them. It was a strange switch of roles, but one that they were both momentarily pleased with. "Ha!"

"You're right." As he gave in and said what he wanted to hear, he reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling him in against her for a friendly side hug. "I do."

Something inside of the redhead's heart warmed that she couldn't explain.

"Merry Christmas, Jackson." April murmured with a smile growing across her expression as she looked up at him.

"Merry Christmas."


	23. Fireplace

Harriet was sleeping soundly in her nursery without a bother in the world, having gone down about half an hour ago without putting up any fuss. This was probably the last thing that she would do so in the holiday season. April and Jackson both knew that tomorrow night, there was no way that she would want to go to sleep with the promise of Santa coming down the chimney and presents in the morning. They had already talked it out and decided they were fine with letting her stay up some, knowing that she wouldn't make it through the night. They would have plenty of time to make sure that all of the presents got under the tree in time for her to wake up in the morning.

With a little time for themselves, April had stretched out on the couch in the living room and turned on the electric fireplace. Warmth radiated through the room though she still kept a blanket draped across her legs for comfort, relaxed as she slouched deep into the back of the couch.

"Are you cold?" Jackson asked as he settled down next to her.

"No, I'm not anymore," she shook her head and leaned into her husband, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "But you are super duper warm."

"You always say that," he pointed out as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'm starting to think you just want an excuse to curl up against me like this."

"I'm your wife. I don't need an excuse to curl up with you." April stated smugly.

"True." A small nod of agreement followed. "You are always cold. God, I don't think I could even sleep in the same bed as you if you didn't wear socks."

She rubbed her fuzzy socks along his legs. "I couldn't sleep period if I didn't wear my socks. Except maybe right here, in front of the fireplace."

"Something tells me that this isn't your ideal sleeping spot." A chuckle slipped past his lips with the comment, thumb drawing circles across her hips comfortably. "You're a little too picky for that given that you need a dozen pillows on the bed with you at any given time." He teased.

"You like having a dozen pillows on the bed." She pointed out smugly. "You always end up with one between your legs even though you refuse to just fall asleep that way like a normal human being."

"It feels nice on my back," he shrugged defensively.

"I know it does." April smiled. "I just think it's sill that you toss and turn before you finally settle that way every single night." She teased as she nudged him playfully.

"Someone steals all the blankets. I need the movement to keep warm." Jackson teasingly suggested with a grin.

"Maybe you should sleep out here by the fire." She replied with the same light expression as she snuggled closer to him. "Without my dozen pillows."

"Can't." His arms moved and tightened around her waist so that he could pull his wife completely into his lap. His face buried into the curve of her neck and placed a few soft kisses against the sensitive skin there, sucking just light enough for a gasp to escape her but not enough to leave a mark. "Need to have you with me."

A happy hum left her lips. "You're so picky."

"I just want to sleep in the same bed as my wife. I don't think that's picky. I think that's the reasonable thing to do." Jackson nipped lightly at the back of her neck.

"So if I wanted to lay out by the fireplace and pretend we're in the last Twilight movie, you would let me?" She twisted her head to try and get a look at the expression with her suggestive comment, not entirely sure if he would get the reference or not. She was pretty sure he had fallen asleep during those movies - not that she could really blame him.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

Loud laughter escaped. "I knew you didn't pay attention to it. I don't know why because Kristen Stewart is very pretty." She accused. "But there's this nice, romantic scene by the fireplace. They block out the nudity with some lamp or something like it's an Austin Powers movie."

"Now, those movies I paid a little more attention to." They were funny enough even if they were far from his favorite. "I'm surprised you know anything about them."

"I pay attention. Alex watched them when we all lived together." She can't help but smile fondly at the memory, even if things had been vastly different back then. They had both fooled themselves into thinking that they were just best friends and nothing more than that.

"God, living with him was something else," Jackson remarked with a shake of his head. He wasn't quite nostalgic for those times given how complicated things had been, but the three of them had been far from the worst roommates together. April made sure to keep them all on track no matter what else was going on. She had always been good to him like that and the kindness extended to everyone around her.

"Mmhm," she nodded. "It's like we always lived with a baby."

A snort of laughter escaped him. "You're damn right, we always did."

"At least now, ours stinks a lot less." April shifted so that she was facing him as another conversation came to mind. "Speaking of babies, Arizona and Callie brought up something at the Christmas party the other day that I was thinking about."

"Yeah?" His brow rose. "What's that?"

"Another baby." She didn't beat around the bush any further with the idea. April hadn't needed Callie or Arizona to bring up the topic to know that she wanted more kids. That was something that she had always known even if there had been a point where she wasn't sure that it would be possible for them to do together. It was just something that they hadn't had a clear and open discussion about since they had remarried. "I think it'd be sweet to make Harriet a big sister, don't you? I know that she'd be good at it." That kind of thing was typically hard to predict but they both knew their little girl had a big heart. Jackson thought that she had gotten from her mother, and April thought she had gotten it from both parents.

Without hesitation, Jackson had his answer. "Hell yeah." He gave a broad smile. "As much decorating as you've done lately, it's already like you were nesting for a new baby."

"Oh, please!" She laughed and shook her head. "It was not that bad."

"Says you." He teased her, reaching up to grab her face and kiss her hard. Even when their lips separated, he didn't let go of her. "But seriously. This time of year brings out the momma bear in you. If I didn't know any better, I could mistake you for pregnant. And I love that about you. I love the mother you are and that it's my little girl you're a mother to."

"Stop. You're going to make me cry." April's cheeks warmed to a rosy hue as she dunked her head down bashfully. "So you think that we can do it, really? Have another baby together?"

"I do." Jackson nodded his head firmly. "And I think now is the perfect time to start trying."

"Whatever you say, babe."


	24. Feast

"I know you've got your family traditions, but this is one of the few ones that my family did regularly. Traditions aren't just for the Kepner family, you know that, right? The rest of us have them too."

Traditions were something that April's family had always been full of when it came to the Christmas holidays. That included celebrating it for what they considered to be so-called "right" reasons – because it was a huge part of their faith and religion, not just because it had become the American thing to do in the twenty-first century. Going to church on Christmas was a necessary part of their celebrations, donating to charity and spending some time volunteering, and decorating the house with everything they had. A part of that was also spending Christmas Day with the family and having a giant lunch together after the traditional morning of opening presents and merrymaking had been had. They did just about everything imaginable during the particular time of year.

On the other hand, things had always changed for Jackson and his family. They would celebrate in different places, do different things. There was rarely anything consistent about what was happening other than the fact that year after year, it was him and his mom. His grandfather came and went some years, less so after his grandmother had passed when he was young. He had tried to be around but it had been clear that he was more emotional than he was comfortable being around anyone else. But given his mother's propensity to work and not make time to cook, they had one consistent tradition over their own over the years on the night before Christmas.

That was something that he wanted to share with April this year. They were spending the holiday together. Neither one of them had work that night and Alex was busy working at the hospital, then likely going over to Meredith's place for the night. He seemed to spend just as much time at her house as he did at their apartment. Neither one of them minded much, really. It kept things quiet most of the time.

"This is…" April's lips pressed together, her brow drawn down toward her nose. "I mean, it's kind of different. That's for sure. I just thought that you'd want something homemade tonight. It's Christmas Eve, after all."

"Nope." He popped the syllable and shrugged his shoulder. "This is it for me."

Instead of a home cooked meal, multiple containers of sushi were laid out across the kitchen table with a large bowl of salted edamame in the center of it. There was a small tray of sashimi, as well as some Philadelphia rolls and avocado cheese rolls for her, unsure how much of the more complex types of sushi that she enjoyed. Plus, he would be happy to eat them, even if they were a bit childish. A bottle of dry prosecco was waiting to be poured. It was all of the sushi they could have wanted and more – there was no way that they would be able to eat all of it.

"Well, you know how much I love sushi." It was one of her favorite adult foods, something that she had never had around when she was a child. It wasn't popular where she lived and her parents weren't a fan of it. "I'm actually really, really tired. Not cooking sounds great tonight."

"See? No reason for you to be cooking tonight." Jackson smiled at her, shrugging his shoulders and slipping his hands into his pocket. "This is a perfect Christmas feast."

"You even got wine." She commented as she picked up the bottle and read the label. "Impressive."

"I'm perfectly capable of throwing together a good dinner." He chuckled. "Just that my idea of getting together dinner doesn't always mean pots and pans and cooking. Besides, fewer dishes to clean up afterward. You should be happy about that much. It won't give you something to complain about."

"Well, you are not the problem with cleaning up." That was definitely Alex. "Thanks for doing this."

"Of course," he shrugged off her words. "It's nice to have something like this."

April nodded her head, a smile soft on her lips. "Yeah, it is…" A sigh passed through her lips. "I miss my family this time of year. Sometimes I wish I was doing something simpler like being a teacher and having the holiday off, even though I love this job more than anything in the world. It'd just be nice to spend the holiday with them, too."

"I get it." Jackson had that plenty as a child. Now that he was an adult, things were different. "They're your family and people advertise the holidays as being all about family."

"The holidays are about family." Her brows furrowed as she glanced at him.

"Yeah, no, I know," he nodded his head. "I just mean that it can be more than that. Come on, why don't we sit down and eat?" He suggested with a smile.

Another nod was given in his direction as she sat down at their kitchen table across from him. Jackson poured both of them a glass of wine, pushing the soy sauce in her direction first so she could add some in one of the small bowls that he had gotten out. He had been careful to make sure that everything they needed was on the table, wanting to make things as laid out for her as possible. She always did a lot for both him and Alex to make sure that they were comfortable, no matter how annoyed she may have gotten with either one of them. It was about time that they did the same for her. He knew Alex wasn't the type – so that was pretty much only up to him.

"Take whatever you want." Jackson motioned to the trays of sushi between them, wanting her to pick some first. "As much as you want."

"Okay." She grabbed her own pair of chopsticks, pausing for a moment to get them between her fingers properly. She knew how to use them but she wasn't as smooth with them as Jackson was. Once she had a good grip, she reached across the table and grabbed a variety of the rolls laid out.

Once she had gotten some, he began to fill his own plate with a few rolls. "So," he began slowly. "If you were at home right now with your family, what do you think you would be doing?"

"Hmm…" she started. "Honestly? Probably arguing over something stupid."

Jackson laughed. "Yeah, sounds pretty much the same as my family."

"Guess our families are just a little more alike than we realized," April said before pausing to eat one of the rolls, dipping it on soy sauce before popping it into her mouth and groaning at how good it tasted. "God, this one is good. Perfect amount of kick to it. But yeah, I love my parents and my sisters but… I'm just a little different from all of them, you know?" She gave a little shrug of her shoulders, trying to downplay her words. She didn't want to worry them, especially given that they did get along most of the time. They just also drove each other crazy if they were around one another for too long.

"I understand completely." He had been the black sheep in his own family for so many years, though for far different reasons. "I don't know if we'd be fighting quite so combatively, but I know my mom and grandfather would be sticking their nose into places it doesn't belong. They do that pretty much every year once they get the chance."

"I would love to spend Christmas dinner with your mom one day. Well, Christmas Eve dinner. She's so brilliant. I'd love to be able to pick at her brain and learn more about her."

"Seriously?" Jackson questioned, his brows raising.

For a moment, both of them stared at one another with a small smirk growing across the redhead's lips. Sure, she didn't mind spending this Christmas Eve with him – that couldn't have been further from the truth. Although working would not have been the worst thing in the world given just how much she loved her job and the fact that it tended to be even busier during the holiday season, she was glad that it was with someone that she cared about. Even if she wasn't completely sure about it all of the time, she felt as though he had to care for her too, on some deeper level. People wouldn't go out of their way to do something like this for dinner for someone that they didn't care about. They just wouldn't.

"Seriously!" April laughed when she finally replied, nodding her head. "I'd love to. She's amazing."

"Maybe one day."


	25. Waking Up

Most days of the year, an early wake-up call was necessary for Jackson and April. Even though their bodies were mostly used to having to get up early for the demands of their job, an alarm was still necessary to make sure that the temptation to get just a few more hours of shuteye didn't win.

But Christmas Day was the exception.

Both of them had stayed up a little later than usual to make sure that all of the presents beneath the tree were perfectly wrapped, a mixture signed from both them and Santa Claus. The stockings were stuffed and they had gotten to nibble on the cookies and milk that they had left out with their daughter before she had gone to bed. Harriet had tried to stay up late and made it about an hour and a half past her normal bedtime before she had finally fallen asleep curled up on the couch, carried to bed and tucked in gently by her father without waking. Though she had taken time to fall asleep, it was the easiest morning of the year for her to wake up.

Excited feet patter against the hardwood floors of the house after pushing open the door to her bedroom, hurrying down the hallway to her parent's rooms. She reached up and opened the door by herself, pushing it open before running over to her mother's side of the bed. With both hands she pressed down against the mattress, trying to jump up onto the bed as she shouted excitedly at her parents.

"Momma! Momma! Daddy! It's Christmas! It's Christmas! Santa came!" Harriet yelled.

"Good morning, ladybug." April blinked sleepily, taking a moment to wake up despite her daughter's vigorous shaking of their bed.

Jackson let out an obnoxiously loud yawn. "Santa came?" He questioned. "No, I don't think so." He teased. "Let's go back to be. Daddy's tired."

"Daddy!" Their daughter screamed in protest. "Santa came! Wake up! I'll show you!"

"Mm, I don't believe you," he continued the rouse as he sat up slowly and rubbed the back of his eyes. "I don't think he came. How could that fat old man get down the chimney? And he certainly couldn't get back up if he ate all those cookies you left out for him, ladybug."

"Santa came!" Harriet repeated herself, giving the bed one more shake before stepping back from the bed as April began to get up herself. "Come look!"

Not wanting to wait on her parents any longer, she ran back out to the living room where the Christmas tree and all of the presents underneath it were waiting to be unwrapped.

"She's just like you in the morning," Jackson commented with a glance over at his wife, stretching his arms up and over ahead. His back gave a loud, satisfying pop as he did so. He rolled his shoulders back and stretched out his neck in each direction. "Nice and cheery. Way too cherry."

"I am not that cheery in the morning." April squinted at him, shaking her head.

"Says you," he chuckled with a shake of his head. "Come on, let's go before she burns the house down."

Even if it would have been nice to pause and get a cup of coffee before the gift opening happened, Jackson and April both knew that there was no way they would manage to get their daughter to slow down enough for that to happen. She was full of energy all the time, and this particular bright and cheery morning, more so than ever. She had enough in her to power the entire house and neighborhood. All of it was clear with the wide, gap-toothed smile that she wore across her face, the one that brought joy and laughter to the happy parents like nothing else in the world.

By the time that they had reached the living room, Harriet was already settled on the floor as close to the presents under the tree that she could get. Her tiny arms were wrapped around a big box with her name on it that said it was from Santa.

"Can I open it? Pwease?" Harriet asked, big blue eyes staring at both her parents pitifully.

"How do you know it's from Santa, goofy girl?" Jackson teased her, tickling her ribcage as he walked by before sitting down on one of the armchairs, leaning forward to watch with his phone out to take photos.

"Says Santa!" Her finger jabbed against the present label. "And the cookies are gone! Milk too!"

"Well then, I guess it must be from Santa." He shot a wink at his wife.

"Open it, ladybug!" April encouraged. "Let's see what Santa got you. I want to know."

The wrapping paper had been perfectly precise the night before when it had been placed under the tree. But once the three year old hand's are on the shiny red and gold paper, it doesn't take long for it to get completely torn apart in her fever to see what was on the inside of the paper. The large box contained an indoor and outdoor play fairy princess castle tent, pink with glowing lights inside of the hexagonal setup. When Jackson had seen it while scrolling through some holiday toy lists online, he had been absolutely certain that his daughter would love it the second she opened it, even if it hadn't been on her Christmas list.

"Wow!" Harriet breathed out as she placed her hands on the box, looking at it with wide eyes. "It's so cool. Can we set it up, Daddy?" With a big pout jutting out her bottom lip, she looked over at her father.

It would have been easy to say yes to that pout – even with other presents still needing to be opened.

"Don't you want to open up your other gifts first?" April leaned forward with a raise of her brows. "You've got so many! I'm sure that Daddy can get it set up for you later today."

"Yeah!" It didn't take much for her to change her mind, remembering the other gifts.

With gleeful abundance, Harriet pushed herself back onto her feet and began to dig into the other presents under the tree. She got her way through the gifts from Santa and her grandparents and her parents, plowing through one after one with appreciation and excitement. The big smile on her lip doesn't fade no matter what it was that she opened up – from cute, handmade clothes from Grandma Karen to the fancier American Girl doll that April had bought.

"You've got some gifts for you, too," Jackson commented toward his wife, keeping his voice low enough to not distract their daughter from all the things that she was excited about. He passed over a small, flat box toward her that he had wrapped himself.

"You know you didn't have to get me anything fancy," April said.

Of course, she said that any time that she opened up a present from him, no matter what the occasion was. She used her nails to carefully open up the wrapping paper, a square red box just about the size of her hand inside of it. She gave a brief glance up at him as she took the lid off the box, revealing a beautiful red and gold necklace sitting inside of it. It was gorgeous and a statement piece necklace.

"Oh, Jackson," she breathed out with a smile like their daughter's stretching across her features as she looked up at her husband. "This is so beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much," she expressed genuinely.

"I thought you'd like it," he smiled back at her. "I thought it would look nice with the black dress you bought to go to the New Year's Eve party."

"It's perfect for that," she agreed with a nod of her head. "I got you something too. Well, a few somethings. But I want you to open up this one first." April stood up for a moment to grab a small bag from underneath the tree. Jackson hadn't noticed it there last night – she must have snuck it into place when he hadn't been paying enough attention.

"Yeah?" His brow raised as he looked up at her, waiting for her to sit down again.

April gave a nod of her head, both hands coming up to tuck her messy hair behind her ears. Her phone was also sitting with the camera out, though she waited till he began to open it to begin quietly recording his reaction to the present that she had placed inside of it for him.

Inside of the wrapping paper, there was a plastic bag wrapped under something small and rectangular. His brow furrowed a little deeper before as he made his way through getting it completely unraveled before he realized what exactly the rectangle was. His seafoam blue-green eyes suddenly went extremely wide as he realized exactly what it was that he was looking at, processing the two distinct pink lines on it.

"You're pregnant?" Jackson questioned with a wide smile across his face. "Already? What – how?"

"The stuff that you were saying the other night, it got me thinking… I realized that I was a little late. So I decided just to take a test, just see if there was any chance in the world that you might be right." A smile grew across her face as she spoke, shrugging her shoulders as if to downplay it when she was entirely incapable of it. "And you were!"

"I can't believe it." A happy laugh left his lips, getting up quickly to move toward her and kissing her harm, still holding the positive pregnancy test in his hand. "I can't believe it. Wow. We're having another baby. We're going to be parents again."

Of course, midst their celebration of the new baby that would be brought in their midst sometime during the summer of next year, Harriet didn't seem to notice anything different with her parents. Her attention was taken up entirely by the new toys that she had been bought.

"Do you think that we should tell her right away?" Jackson asked, his finger twirling around a red strand of hair.

"I don't know." April glanced at their daughter, smile still resting her lips. "What do you think?"

"I kind of want to tell her." He admitted. "I think that she'll be happy."

Another brief glance was given over at Harriet. "Okay," she said slowly. "Are you sure?"

"I am." Jackson nodded his head. He took a deep breath. "Harriet, why don't you come here for a moment? We have one more present for you. But this is one that we have to tell you about."

Confused but curious, Harriet abandoned her doll and waddled over to her father. He reached down and lifted her up onto his lap, settling her down on one knee.

"Now, this isn't exactly a present that you're going to get right away…" Jackson started.

"What is it?" Harriet asked.

"You're going to get to be a big sister, ladybug." April smiled at her daughter, leaning forward so she was closer to her eye level. "Mommy's having another baby, but not for a few months. And that baby is going to be your little brother or sister."

"A baby?" She questioned. "Cool!"

"It is very cool." Jackson agreed with a nod of her head.

"You're going to be such a great big sister."

"Can I go back to my toys now?" Harriet asked as she looked between her parents.

April let out a laugh. "Of course you can," she agreed.

Jackson put their daughter back down on the floor, and both of them watched as she ran back over to be occupied by the new toys. It was a lot of new stuff for her to receive all at once, but April was sure that eventually, all kinds of questions were going to be coming from her about having a baby brother or sister. She just needed a little time to get past the excitement of all of the other new additions that she had this morning.

"I really can't believe that our baby is in there," Jackson said as he placed his hand on his wife's stomach, rubbing it gently. "Best present ever."

"I thought that you might like." April leaned over, kissing him softly. "Merry Christmas. I love you."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas."


End file.
